Best Friends Until the End
by EternalEmotions107
Summary: Set after Season 3, Episode 57 "Aelita", Aelita is faced with two challenges. The first is to find and save her beloved father. The second, work out any arising feeling for a certain eccentric giant purple cat. New chapters as of July 2015. ***Currently being re-worked into "Broken Past, Shifting Future" (see profile)***
1. Chapter 1  Thoughts

**This is my very first story so please NO FLAMES! I will take constructive criticism, though.**

**This is a Code Lyoko story with the Odd/Aelita pairing so if you don't like, you don't read (I don't want reviews saying you don't like OxA). This takes place after Season 3, Episode 57 "Aelita" and it's in Aelita's P.O.V. I apologize if any of the characters are OOC. I tried my best.**

**DISCLAIMER: I do not own Code Lyoko or it's characters, Moonscoop does.**

**~ Enjoy! ~**

**Aelita's P.O.V.**

"Odd you only have 40 life points left!" I heard Jeremie warn him. Odd, Ulrich, and I were in the mountain sector, fighting off Xana's monsters while trying to deactivate the tower.

"Yeah, yeah. I'd like to see you out here Einstein!" Odd shot another laser arrow at the Tarantula firing. He hit it on target, but there were still two more to go. "Yeah! Ok, your turn Lucille!"

"Odd, cut it out with the lame names already," said Ulrich, as he dodged the lasers with his sword.

"You can do it!" Yumi, who'd been devitalized, was now in the lab with Jeremie. _Thanks, Yumi._ I thought. Encouragement worked better than pressure, after all.

I charged up and energy field from where I was hiding behind a large rock and aimed. The tarantula dodged, howled, and kept firing. _"Aelita!"_

"Jeremie?"

"I told you to stay hidden! You can't be devitalized before we deactivate the tower! Is that what you want?" He sounded so angry. I didn't understand; I could fight now. I could fight and I wasn't a damsel in distress anymore. Upset, I balled up my fists.

Ulrich spoke up. "Hey, chill Jeremie." This distracted him. "Hey! Ah-" Several lasers hit him, devirtualizing him.

I hurried out of my place to help Odd. "Odd, wait -" I was hit and fell on the hard ground, holding my stomach. "Oh . . ."

"Aelita!" Odd cried. "Laser arrow!" He fired again and was by my side in an instant. "You ok?" I nodded. "I know you are. You're tougher then that Princess," he added cheerfully with a cheeky smile.

I smiled, but we were interrupted by Jeremie. "Odd! Why didn't you protect Aelita? She's only got 20 life points left!"

I was annoyed with Jeremie blaming the others for something I did. "Jeremie, it wasn't Odd! It was me. I can help but now we need yours. Can you program the Overboard?"

"Fine. Coming up."

I sighed. "Energy field!" The pink orb hit the monster and it was destroyed.

"Nice shot!" Odd called out. "Sheild!" The remaining tarantula fired some more just as the Overboard appeared. With a quick hop, he was on. I ran to him. "Hop on!" I did so and placed my hands on his waist. "Next stop; activated tower!"

I laughed a little as he sped off. As usual, Odd made sure that he rode like a madman, spinning and dodging everything at the last second. By now, I'd grown used to it, even enjoyed it. I appreciated that he liked to lighten the mood in a sticky situation, even if I didn't always show it.

"Hurry up!" Jeremie yelled.

"Almost there! Look!" I pointed to the glowing red tower. "No!" The other tarantula had caught up and was now blocking the entrance.

"Hold on tight, Aelita!"

"Woah!" We flew faster and faster. The tarantula kept firing. _This is impossible; I can't be hit at all, but here, that could happen if just a second!_

Odd turned his head to face me. "Aelita, jump when I say so, ok?"

"Gotcha."

"Here we go!" We spun in circles at the monster, coming closer and closer to the ground. _Almost . . . "_Now!" Odd and I sprang off while the Overboard smashed into the Tarantula.

We landed side by side. I turned to Odd but didn't say anything. He stared back at me. If I was on Earth, I would've blushed. Was he taller then me? I always though he was shorter, but then I realized that we were about the same height. Curse that tall hair of his. That tall, colorful, cute hair . . . what? Suddenly, I was pulled back out of my daydream. "I – uh –" I pointed to the tower and mentally slapped myself. _I must look ridiculous._

"Go on, Aelita," Odd grinned.

Even while entering the tower, I could feel him still watching me. _That was . . . interesting._ What was that all about? It was just Odd . . . right? My best friend until the end? Lately it didn't feel like that. Oh well, it'll talk to Yumi about it later. I placed my hand on the screen, deactivating the tower and tried not to think about it anymore.

"Another mission done."

"Yeah."

Everyone had gathered back in the computer lab. "What do you think Xana's attack was?" I asked.

"I have no idea, Aelita. I'll have to look over the programs that Franz Hopper sent me about Xana. Also, I'll need to reconfigure . . ."

He continued to speak, but I wasn't listening all that much. My eyes drifted to the others, who looked confused as Jeremie spoke. _It really is no surprise anymore._

" . . . and then I'll join the two systems together and then replace the old configuration disk with a new one." Jeremie finished.

"Uh yeah, that's great Einstein. Can we have dinner now?" asked Odd, holding his stomach and pouting. I giggled.

Jeremie heard. "Fine. You can have mine. Aelita, do you wanna stay with me?"

"Actually, uh, I'm feeling pretty hungry too," I admitted, my hands behind my back.

"Oh uh, ok fine. I'll meet up with you later tonight in my dorm."

"Yeah, sure." I followed Yumi, Odd, and Ulrich into the elevator. Once we were inside and moving, Yumi spoke up.

"Why didn't you stay with Jeremie? He could've used your help." Ulrich and Odd were facing us, waiting for my answer. Ulrich was of course staring at Yumi, but Odd was looking at me intently. He looked so . . . serious. _That's unusual._

"Oh, well, I . . . uh -" I didn't want to come out and say that if I stayed, this would be the fourth night in a row I'd missed dinner and instead spent time upgrading programs that were just fine. "I'm really hungry. Besides, I promised to meet up with him later." My eyes shifted downwards.

"We would've saved you some food, but ok."

I sighed, relieved that Yumi had dropped it. The truth was, I wasn't all that hungry. I really just needed and excuse to get out of staying with Jeremie. Oh, even felt guilty for thinking it. But it was true. Jeremie always asked me to stay with him. I would help fix things that didn't need to be fixed and pretend to listen as he explained how to do something that involved a computer. Maybe he just wants to spend time with me. If only he would with something I actually enjoyed.

"And so that's when I said, 'it's not a dog, it's a rat!'"

We burst out laughing to Odd's ridiculous story of the giant rat with rabies. Even Ulrich was laughing.

"Oh Odd, where do you here these things really?" I asked through giggles.

He smiled. "Oh from my sisters, scary stories, and even Jim."

"Jim?" asked Yumi.

"Yeah. He wouldn't tell me the whole thing because -"

"He'd rather not talk about it!" We all chorused and laughed again. Then Ulrich began to speak about something else Jim had said.

I pushed around my Shepard's pie with my fork as I chewed slowly.

"You gonna finish that?" Odd asked me.

"No here," I shoved my tray across the table.

"Not hungry Aelita?" asked Ulrich. "I thought you were."

"Yeah, until I found out what we were eating." I made a face.

"Hey, no dissing the pie. It has feelings you know," Odd joked through his full mouth.

"Yeah right Odd," replied Yumi, rolling her eyes and grinning. "Well, I'd better head home. 'Night everyone!"

"Bye Yumi!" we called.

"I need to go, too," Odd announced.

"Oh really?" inquired Ulrich. "Where?"

"Outside, to meet Kyrsten." He stood up and wiped his hands.

"Kyrsten? Isn't she the girl with the brown bob and wears a lot of green?" Ulrich sounded amused.

"Yeah. She's a total cutie! Wait 'til you see her!"

"Uh, sorry good buddy, but I don't wanna risk getting slapped, too."

"Ha ha, very funny. Well, here I go." Odd hurried outside, but I barley saw. Another girl he wants to see. Why can't he just say with one, one who really cares about him? One who laughs at his jokes, one who wants to make him never stop smiling?

_Stop it, Aelita. Odd is just you're friend. He flirts with a lot of girls, not just you. _I shook my head. _Yes, but what girls does he save constantly, make her blush, flirt with every day, and give her as nickname? _I thought. _Well, there's Yumi, but he doesn't see her that way, does he? I know he's all about getting Ulrich to ask her out. No, Yumi's just a good friend to him, an older sister. The only other girl who fits all of that is . . . me._

"Aelita? Aelita?"

"Huh?" I yanked my head up to see Ulrich.

"You ok?"

"Uh, yeah. Just tired I guess."

"Oh. I'm going to study for that stupid science test tomorrow." He got up. "You're good at science, wanna study with me?"

"No thanks. I think I'll just take a walk and head back to my room."

"Alright. See you later."

"Bye." I waited for him to leave before I did myself. I needed to clear my head.

It was cold outside; the sun had nearly set. Shivering, I rubbed my arms and continued to walk. My mind wandered to Odd again.

Odd; he was special. Even when I liked Jeremie, I had a soft spot for him. I mean who wouldn't? He saved me on Lyoko more then anyone. If I could count the times I wanted to blush when he fell on top of me, I'd be lost. He made me laugh, he was affectionate, and he tried the hardest to understand me. After he found my crying at the Hermitage, and we went to Lyoko by ourselves, I realized that Odd and I had a connection.

I was grateful for Jeremie and did my best to show him that I appreciated it. He was playful enough when I was in Lyoko, but after a while he became more controlling and less fun, while with Odd, he got better over time instead. It's obvious that Jeremie likes me, so I pretend that I do too, while inside, I tried to ignore the feeling I got when I was around Odd, who was supposed to be only my friend, my fake cousin. I hated that I had to pretend to be his cousin. We weren't really related, but if I wanted to stay at Kadic, I had to pretend I was. To everyone, I was Aelita Stones, Odd's cousin, and Jeremie's crush. I was _supposed _to be with Jeremie right? That's how our group functioned.

I hated seeing Odd get hurt, yet he was always ready to risk his life for me. I'm glad that we're such good friends, but at this point we were boarding the line of friendship and something more. I had the instinct to make sure that he would always be ok, and I think he did too for me. But was that enough? He was always with other girls, even if it wasn't for long.

Speaking of which, I spotted Odd and Kyrsten, her name was? He was trying to impress her. She wasn't laughing. Darting my eyes around, I spotted a tree and hid behind it, while hoping to hear their conversation. She yelled at him and slapped him across the face!

"Odd," I whispered. Kyrsten stormed off, while Odd stood there, looking awkward and embarrassed while rubbing his cheek. Once she left, I stepped out of my hiding spot and hurried over to him. _Deja vu . . . like earlier today in Lyoko . . ._ "Are you ok?" I asked him, reaching out to touch his shoulder.

"Aelita?" he sounded surprised. "What are you doing here?"

"I saw her slap you," I replied. "I'm sorry."

"For what? You didn't do anything, Princess." He turned away. "Then again, maybe I deserved it."

"What did you do?" I'd heard before that Odd got slapped by every girl he'd dated, but to actually see it was a whole different thing.

"Well . . . she found out that I dated her best friend and uh, broke her heart," he trailed off, looking ashamed. "I never showed up to our date."

"Odd," I scolded, hitting his arm playfully. "How dare you."

"Hey I couldn't help it. I blame Xana! Stupid computer program . . . he's just jealous!" Odd joked.

We laughed. I really couldn't understand how this was so funny, but I was glad just to be laughing with him. I eventually looked up, only to find Odd holding out his hand to me. "Wanna walk with me?"

"Sure," I grinned and took his hand, letting him help me up.

We traveled around the campus, sharing stories. "So wait, _Yumi _was in your body when you got slapped

by two girls?" I said in disbelief.

"Yep," Odd answered, proudly.

I have him a playful shove. "Poor Yumi."

"Hey, I felt it in the morning you know," he said back. "Yumi was cool about it though. Until she found out about Ulrich and I."

"I remember that!" I exclaimed. "You're so crazy, hugging him like that in the paper."

"Yeah, if only the girls I date would be cool about the things I do the way you are," added Odd, smiling.

"I – uh . . ." I turned away and blushed. _Pull it together Aelita._

"Kyrsten said we could be friends," Odd continued. "So I asked for a kiss."

"A kiss?" I felt my stomach drop.

"On the cheek. Friends can do that right? So after I asked her for that, she slapped me and said I was out of my mind." Odd finished as we headed to the dorm building.

"You didn't deserve that," I told him, sincerely.

"Thanks, Princess."

We stood outside, watching the last minutes of daylight. "It's so beautiful," I whispered.

"The sunset?"

"Yes. I like the sunrise too, but with all of the Xana attacks at night, I end up sleeping in so I never see it." I felt my short hair ruffle in the breeze as I spoke.

"Yeah, I know what you mean."

"That's because you always oversleep," I reminded him.

"Yeah, yeah," he ruffled my hair. "Ready to go?"

"Sure." We headed back upstairs in no time. I felt great and very happy, even though I wished we had talked longer. It had been too long since I had a pleasant time like what I just had. I led Odd to my room. He leaned against the wall as I unlocked my door and sighed.

"What's wrong?" Odd sounded curious.

"I'm supposed to meet Jeremie after this," I admitted. Instead of making a joke or trying to convince me to see him, he just stared at me like he did on Lyoko. I peered into his eyes, which was a unique combination of blue and violet, a lighter shade of indigo.

"You know, you don't have to do everything Jeremie wants you to," he said quietly.

"Yeah, I-I know."

"You're a person, Aelita, not a toy. Don't forget that."

I smiled at him. "Thanks Odd." I turned to my door. Something stopped me from entering. "Uh, Odd?"

He perked up. "Yeah?"

"Y-you said that friends could kiss right?"

"Um, yeah . . ." he looked a little confused.

I hesitated but then ignored the feeling and leaned closer to the purple clad boy beside me. "That means I can do this." I leaned over and kissed his cheek softly. He froze and turned as red as an apple. I stifled a chuckle and whispered. "Goodnight Odd."

He snapped out of his frozen state and gave me his goofball smile. "Night Princess." I stepped into my room and closed the door gently. My lips felt like they were on fire. And strangely enough, I felt _good_. I flopped down on my bed and closed my eyes. What a day . . .

Then I heard a knock on my door. Hurrying to answer it was a big mistake. It was Jeremy, carrying his laptop. "Hey Aelita, you never stopped by," he reminded me.

"Oh, I'm sorry Jeremie. I'm feeling tired, can I meet up with you first thing tomorrow?" I tried not to push it, but I didn't want to spoil my day with more useless programming. I wanted to spend time with my friends and look for my father, but that was all right now. Getting into the Internet could wait for another night.

"Why are you tired? What were you doing?" he demanded.

"Jeremie, I was taking a walk."

"By yourself?"

"No . . . Odd was with me," I responded.

"Odd?" Jeremie looked pretty mad.

"I'm allowed to take walks with my friend," I said back, insulted. I didn't mention that friends were apparently allowed to kiss on the cheek, too.

"I know it's just . . ." he didn't finish.

"Just what Jeremie?"

"You've been spending a lot of time with him lately," he mumbled.

"He's my friend, Jeremie. I like hanging out with Odd." I sounded so defensive.

"Yeah, and you even went off to Lyoko with him without telling anyone," he snapped back.

"Because you were being such a jerk!" I yelled. "You never have time for me!"

"Aelita, I _always_ ask you to help me with the supercomputer-"

"I don't _always _want to do that, Jeremie! When's the last time you took me for a walk like Odd did? Or anyone else for that matter?"

"You shouldn't be with Odd so much! People will get suspicious and figure out that you're not really

cousins!" he screamed back.

My mind was racing for something to say back when I realized what was going on here. "Jeremie . . . are you jealous?"

Jeremie looked embarrassed, but the angry expression never left his face. "Jealous? No!"

"Then if you're not really jealous then you won't mind if I take another walk with him tomorrow?" I spoke without thinking.

"Aelita!"

"Leave me alone, Jeremie."

"Aelita - "

"Leave me alone!" I slammed the door closed and locked it. Tears poured down my face as I hurled myself onto my bed. I curled up and cried. More than anything, I wanted to hurry to the Hermitage, but it was much too dark.

This wasn't supposed to happen. I wasn't supposed to fight with Jeremie about Odd. Sniffing, I pulled out my pink cell phone and texted Odd:

_Hey, can u meet me outside in time 4 the sunrise? I need to talk 2 u. Thnx. :)_

_~ Aelita_

I flopped down on my bed and didn't bother top check my phone for his reply. My pillow was soaked with tears. I still managed to fall asleep until I woke up to the sound of my laptop buzzing.

Groaning, I lifted myself out of bed to check. _Is it a Xana attack? _No it wasn't. My eyes widened once I saw the screen. "Daddy?"

**Oh, yes, I went there. The next chapter is going to be in Odd's P.O.V. You can review with your questions and opinions but no flames yet, plz :) I'll update as soon as I can.**

**R & R**


	2. Chapter 2  Trouble in Paradise

**Hello again! Ok, so after reading my first chapter, I like it, but I'm not entirely proud of the way it turned out. I think my problem is being descriptive, which I can usually do just fine, but at the same time, I need to keep Aelita and the others themselves and not be too OOC, so yeah . . . If anyone has any writing tips for me, I would really appreciate it. Anyways, this chapter is in Odd's P.O.V. I'm not used to writing in a guy's P.O.V. so sorry if it sucks. And NO FLAMES . . . yet.**

**Anyways, I should wrap this up before I start to rant (again). Here's the Disclaimer.**

**DISCLAIMER: I do not own Code Lyoko or its characters, Moonscoop does.**

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><p><strong>Odd's P.O.V.<strong>

After my night with Aelita, I felt like I was king of the world! Odd Della Robbia the Magnificent truly is the greatest. Of course, I acted that way on the outside all the time, but on the inside, I was even more cheerful then usual.

Happy because I thought that after all of this, I might have a chance with the girl of my dreams. Yeah, I like Aelita. A lot. At first, I tried dating other girls to get my mind off of her, once I got in too deep, I dated them to make her jealous.

I still remember when I said to Ulrich that I was a great actor, I wasn't lying. Nope, I really am. How else would I pretend that Aelita's just a friend and that I'm fine with her and Jeremie being together? The only way I could get away with being more was that I had a flirty personality, so every girl – including her – was entitled to my more then friendly jokes.

"Oh, Jeremie, you're so lucky to have her . . ." I said to myself.

Aelita didn't seem like much to some people, but like the rest of us, once you got to know us, you'd see how cool we were. Especially Aelita. Yep, she's more then just Mrs. Einstein alright. I realized that after all the times she was willing to end her life to save others by shutting the supercomputer off. She's so selfless. Not to mention that now she's out of her shell, her sense of humor is developing even more.

"And she's so beautiful."

"Who?"

"Ah!" I flipped over in my bed and saw Ulrich sitting in his.

"Uh, no one I was just talking to myself . . ." I laughed nervously.

"Right. Lonely already?"

"Yeah, things didn't go so well with Kyrsten." That was the truth.

"Uh huh, do I even wanna know?" asked Ulrich, obviously enjoying himself. As usual, my good buddy loved to pick on me. _Well, two can play that game._

"No you don't. And don't even think about boring me about how lonely _you'll be_ when Yumi leaves for her trip," I shot back, wagging my eyebrows.

"Hey, don't forget that Yumi and I are just good friends!" Ulrich turned red and looked away.

"Yeah and hippos fly."

"Cool it, Odd. You're the last one to talk about relationships, ok?"

"Poor Ulrich and his sulking habits. I can't imagine how bad that'll be for Yumi once they go out.

"I'm gonna take a shower. See you." I watched Ulrich leave and laughed to myself.

But now that he was gone, I could continue to think about Aelita. Sure she's pretty great; she doesn't even slap me. It even seems like lately she's been enjoying my jokes even more. But she's with Jeremie right? It's more then obvious that Einstein has it bad for her.

She did too, right? At least, she did in the beginning. What about now? She kissed me! Well, not on the lips, but still.

"What should I do, buddy?" I asked Kiwi. He lifted his head and paddled over to me. "I'd love to date her, but why wreck our friendship? I mean, we have to pretend to be cousins and everything. She just different then other girls, you know? I can't really explain it, but I can be myself around her."

Kiwi yapped and wagged his stubby tail. "I always liked her as a crush, but now . . . I don't know."

Once again, Kiwi barked and poked my side with his head and I petted him. "I guess I'll just see how it goes." I'll talk with her tomorrow, but I didn't want to tell Ulrich yet, or Yumi. And Jeremie's definitely out of the question. At least Kiwi listened to me. "Thanks," I said. "My little diggity dog."

* * *

><p><em>Bzzz! Bzzz! <em>"Uhhhhh . . ." My phone buzzed against the side of my bed. I felt Kiwi jump out of bed and on to the floor. _I swear if this is a Xana attack or the wrong number . . ._

It wasn't. It was a text from Aelita. After reading it, I smiled. Usually, I would only wake up early for a Xana attack or early breakfast, but now I had a really good reason to want to. _See you soon, Princess._

* * *

><p>It was turning bright outside. <em>Shit! <em>Quickly, I threw on my clothes and grabbed my phone. Aelita didn't say exactly what time to meet her. My hair was pretty messy, less of a spike. Oh well, she's never seen me with my hair down. I don't have time to gel it. Ulrich shuffled in his sleep but didn't wake up.

Kiwi on the other hand, began to yap. "Shhh, Kiwi! Stop barking, ok? Stay here with Ulrich."

I opened the door and said to my dog at the last second. "And if Yumi comes in, make sure that they're quiet." It didn't matter if Ulrich heard or not; it serves him right for all the times he's called my dog dumb.

_Ok, now where's Aelita? _I scanned the campus until I saw her sitting on the same bench we stood by yesterday. She was still and staring at the sky. "Can't miss that pink hair. I hope I'm not late." I guess it wasn't too bad, 'cause the sun was still rising. She was huddled up from where I could see.

"Hey there Princess," I greeted.

"Odd," she said to me, sounding surprised. "You showed up."

"Wouldn't miss it for the world," I replied happily. Then I plopped down beside her. "What's up?"

"Your hair," she commented and ran her fingers through it. I froze. _She's touching me._ "It looks different. I like it both ways."

"Why thank you." I beamed at her through my hair. She did the same.

"So what did you call me out here for?" I questioned her.

Now she looked nervous. I waited for her to say something. "Odd," she began, looking me in the eye.

I gulped. "Yeah?"

"I – I found my father last night." She was dead serious.

"What? You did?" Wow, that's amazing! We all knew how much Aelita wanted to find Franz Hopper. "How?"

"He sent me a message last night, on my laptop," she explained, moving closer. "I can't believe it!"

"That's great, Aelita," I told her, grinning.

"Yes, that's what I thought, until . . ." she didn't keep going.

"What?" I asked, lifting her chin up with my finger. She looked startled. _Oh, great, too quick Odd. _I dropped my hand.

"What if it's a trap?" she whispered.

"It can't be," I disagreed. "You know your dad right?"

"Yes I do and I really want to find him, but what if Xana uses this to his advantage? We can't risk loosing both me and him." Aelita looked truly sad. I hated seeing her upset, but I needed to ask her,

"Aelita, as much as I'd love to help you out, shouldn't you be telling Jeremie this?"

"What?" she actually sounded hurt.

"I mean he knows all about computers and . . . yeah," I rubbed the back of my neck. _Smooth, Odd._

"I would but I doubt he'd care." Aelita glared at the ground. _What did the ground do to you? _I didn't say this; she needed me to be serious right now.

"Of course he'd care. He always seems to care about you," I offered. The words didn't sound right. I needed to comfort her, though.

"Yeah, right. I doubt it. I actually originally wanted to talk to you because –" She stopped and took a deep breath. _What's wrong , Princess?_

"You can tell me," I urged.

"We got into a fight last night. After you left."

"A fight? Well, what about?" I asked.

"Uh, well, you," she responded, blushing. _Oh, how I love that blush. _

"Why me? Can't stop talking about me?" I joked. I saw her give a small smile but then frown again.

"He thinks I spend too much time with you," she continued.

"Is he still pissed about the whole Lyoko thing?" _That explains why he's been sulking . . . and treating Aelita and I badly. _

"Yes. He's just jealous. He needs to get over it." Aelita looked up at me. "The truth is, I really like spending time with you Odd."

Now I blushed. Oh boy. "Me too Princess." I wrapped and arm around her. "Me too." She leaned against me and rested her head on my shoulder. Thank God that I wasn't shorter than her anymore. Slowly, I leaned my head on top of hers. I'd never been so close to her without and excuse. On Lyoko, I always tackled her and even fell on top of her so that she wouldn't get hit.

Now she was letting me put an arm around her without a reason. I also now knew how Ulrich must feel around Yumi. Nervous, but trying to stay cool. You couldn't afford to look like an idiot in front of a girl who meant a lot to you. Has Jeremie ever felt like this around her recently? _Like Aelita said, 'I doubt it'._

It took all I had not to grab her face in my hands and kiss her right how. _Woah, kiss her? You really like her _that_ much now?_ _She can't feel the same though. I mean, she only kissed me last night because it was a friendly thing. So this must be, too. _Friends. That's all.

"Hey Aelita?"

"Yes?"

"Do you think that Ulrich and Yumi are _just_ _good friends?_"I asked her curiously.

She turned her head and faced me. Behind her soft pink hair were her gorgeous green eyes, which were now studying me quizzically (and yes, I know what _quizzically_ means). "Don't worry, I won't tell them what you say," I assured her.

She lightened up. "Oh well in that case then no, of course not."

"Really?" _Finally, someone agrees with me. Unlike Mr. Sulky and his crush._

"Yeah, they defiantly like each other. If only they could just admit it," Aelita said. Then she giggled; music to my ears.

And then I had a thought; if she thought that Ulrich and Yumi were meant to be together, then what did she think about me and her? We're close friends for all I know. I guess time will tell.

We resumed our position, with us both leaning on each other and watching the sunrise. I didn't even need to speak, it actually felt good to just be together and not even have to talk.

I can't remember how long we stayed like that, but what I do know is that it felt great.

And then of course, people started to come outside. "People will see us." she reminded me, sitting up.

"Yeah, time to move." Then she grabbed my hand. I gladly held hers back. People wouldn't see us . . . cuddling . . . but holding hands for a little while couldn't hurt, right?

She smiled up at me. "Breakfast?"

_Food? Dang this girl knows me well. _"You bet!" I towed her along to the cafeteria. Waiting outside were Ulrich and Yumi. I let go of Aelita's hand once they saw us. Yumi didn't seem to notice, but Ulrich raised his eyebrow at me. _Lay off will you?_

"Hey guys," Yumi greeted. "Jeremie said he'd be joining us for breakfast."

"Weird huh?" Ulrich added. "He always skips."

"He said he'd met us inside," explained Yumi.

"So let's go! My stomach can't take any more!" I led everyone inside. "Yay! They're serving cinnamon toast!" Rosa was waiting for me to ask for seconds. And I didn't disappoint. "Why Rosa! Don't you look marvelous? How about serving this starving child some extra food?" I pointed to myself and gave her the same look Kiwi gives me.

Rosa looked like she was going explode. "No way Odd! Not again!"

"Pleeeaaase?" I begged. "I can't go without food!"

Rosa turned to Aelita. "How does your cousin eat so much and stay so skinny?" Poor Rosa; she's no supermodel. Then again, she'd win against _Sissi,_ who happened to be waiting behind us.

Aelita laughed and put her hands on my shoulders. "I don't know. What I do know is that he won't leave you alone until you give in." She batted her eyelashes.

Rosa saw all of the kids waiting and gave in. "Alright here. Now hurry up." She served Aelita, Yumi, and Ulrich and we sat down to eat.

"This is so good!" I yelled eating everything in sight.

"Slow down Odd," said Aelita. "If you choke and die, you can't eat anymore."

"Oh, you'll miss me so much won't you?" I teased her with my mouth full. I expected her to make another cute, witty comeback. Instead, she turned pink and looked away.

"Hey everyone!" Jeremie's pitchy voice was right above me. I moved my head up and looked through my hair. Yep, he was standing at the table. Once he saw Aelita sitting next to me, he glared.

Even though I was pretty mad at him for treating Aelita badly lately, I tried to be myself. After all, _I _try to do that, not him. "Hey Einstein. Sleep well?"

He smiled fakely and sat on the other side of Aelita. "I'll sleep even better tonight once I finish my program with Aelita's help." He forced another smile.

Aelita looked uneasy but tried to hide it. "Sure Jeremie." Once again, so selfless. She didn't want to but would do it anyway so she wouldn't worry Ulrich or Yumi. "I'll go too Jeremie," I said quickly.

Jeremie glared. "I don't know, Odd. You probably won't be into what Aelita and I are into." He winked at her.

I scowled._ Like you know what Aelita's into_. "It's fine, I should know about this anyway."

"You won't understand," insisted Jeremie.

"I can always learn." I cocked an eyebrow. _You're not getting away with her so easily._

"Aelita –" began Jeremie, turning to her.

"He can come if he wants," she told him quietly.

"But –"

"If a tower gets activated we can both go," she explained, facing me.

"Fine."

I saw Ulrich and Yumi now. I'd forgotten that they were even here. "Enjoying the soap opera?"

"Uh, yeah," they both said back.

"We'll meet at the factory, ok?" Jeremie didn't even wait for Aelita's answer. He got up and left, yelling that he needed to get some work done.

"Well then,' was all I said.

"Do you two wanna join us?" Aelita asked them.

"Oh sorry guys, I promised to be home early. My dad's noticed my grades." Yumi shuddered. "See you!" **(A/N It's Sunday, the day they don't have classes, so Yumi can come and go as she pleases)** She headed towards William and began to speak with him.

"Uh oh, trouble in paradise," I teased Ulrich. He frowned at the scene. And it got even worse when we all hard William say,

"Sure Yumi. I'll meet you at your house!"

"Ooh, scratch that, double trouble."

"What about you, Ulrich? Are you gonna join us?" Aelita inquired.

"No."

"Why not?"

"I have something to take care of."

I think she got the message, because she didn't question any more. "Just you and me, Princess!" I sounded cheerful enough, while really I hoped that this wouldn't be a disaster. After all, when you mixed and angry Jeremie, a selfless Aelita, and me, things weren't any better then Ulrich stalking Yumi and William.

Then Aelita touched my arm gently and said, "Just you and me," with a soft smile.

_Then again, maybe this won't be so bad._

* * *

><p><strong>Ok, another chapter done. I was watching some Code Lyoko and I realized that this is probably too different compared to the show (even though you've all seenread nothing yet). Then I said to myself, screw it, this is FanFiction. One day, you can right a 100% realistic Code Lyoko story that focuses more on adventure and friendship. Anyway, sorry if Odd sounded OOC or I was too repetitive. Aelita's more descriptive when she thinks, where Odd focuses more on action. I tried my best and I hope you like it. The next chapter will probably be in Aelita's P.O.V. again with a snippet of Jeremie's too. After that, chapter 4 will most likely be Odd again. I might do a chapter for Yumi and Ulrich in their P.O.V.s so stay tuned!**

** R & R**


	3. Chapter 3  Loved and Hated

**Ok, I'm back. This chapter is in Aelita's P.O.V. I'd like to thank PurpleSatinRose for being so supportive as well as anyone else who reviewed. Once again, if I'm OOC, I'M SORRY. Oh, and it's rated T a reason (action and language, and other things later on). Here we go.**

**DISCLAIMER: I do not own Code Lyoko or any of its characters. Moonscoop does.**

**Aelita's P.O.V.**

Right after lunch, Odd and I left to go back to our dorms. The campus was packed with kids. Fortunately, no one paid much attention to Odd and I, even though we weren't doing anything (now at least). When we arrived inside the dorm building, Odd took my hand again, much to my surprise. I didn't mind it; it actually felt nice and comforting.

"I hope Ulrich doesn't get himself into too much trouble." I said, starting up a conversation.

"Knowing Ulrich and his jealousy, that might be hard for him. He's no Romeo," he replied, waving his free hand around. _He likes to make hand gestures. I never noticed._

"Well even if that's true -"

"It is." Odd grinned.

I rolled my eyes but cracked a smile, too. "Ok, it is. Even so, we both know how crazy they are about each other."

"Even a blind person can tell!" He paused. "And William."

"That won't stop him. He's awfully determined." I made a face. William seemed nice enough, but Ulrich and Yumi were made for each other.

"At least you don't have to watch Ulrich mope after he can't ask Yumi out again." Now it was Odd's turn to make a face. "Ah, Ulrich. He'll always be a mystery to us, won't he?"

"He certainly will."

We arrived at the boy's hallway and I eventually found myself outside Odd and Ulrich's room. "We can both get ready and meet up with Jeremie," I explained, then stopped. "Or, we could just meet him at the factory."

"Sounds good." Odd opened his door.

"I just need to grab a few things from my room," I continued. "What about you?"

"Well first things first, I need to put my hair up," Odd responded, yanking his fingers through his blonde, straight hair. The purple blotch was untouched. I wanted to laugh; he sounded like a girl.

"Ok then. It was interesting to see it down for a while." I remembered earlier, when I ran my fingers through his hair. _What's the harm in doing it again? He let me do it once. _Without thinking (again) I reached out to trace my fingertips along his head to the bottom of his hair. It felt surprisingly soft. Odd's mouth was slightly open and his eyes looked into mine.

_What am I doing? It feels good but he must think I'm so weird. _Quickly, I pulled my hand away, faced down and turned around. "See you soon," I mumbled, hurrying away. "What's wrong with me?" I whispered. _Control yourself. _I had to admit, it felt amazing just to be with Odd so much. The only question that was still on my mind was, _How can this be happening so fast?_ My feeling weren't this strong when I liked Jeremie. _Liked _Jeremie.

In fact, even before we went to Lyoko by ourselves, I grew closer to Odd. And Jeremie had something to do with that. He was so _serious. _Couldn't he lighten up? Now that I was more comfortable with myself and living on Earth, he seemed to become more uptight. His sarcastic trait grew even more and it wasn't funny anymore. What happened to the sweet Jeremie who I spent hours with just talking to? Maybe it wasn't much outside of science and computers, but still.

I continued thinking while grabbing my bags from my room. Hastily, I shoved my laptop in my backpack and even threw in some chap stick and a hairbrush. _Why? Are you trying to impress a certain boy? _

Instead of taking them back out, I left them in and even threw in some mints for good measure. _What? I might get a little hungry. Odd's always hungry, too._

Satisfied with my belongings in order, I nodded to myself. Time to meet up with Odd. "Let's hope it's not too awkward."

Just as I closed my door, Sissi showed up. "Hey there Mrs. Einstein! I have a very important question for you."

I crossed my arms. "What kind of question?"

"Since you always follow him and his lame gang of friends around, do you think that there's a chance Ulrich will go out with a beauty queen like me? After all that string bean will be leaving soon for Japan won't she? Oh well, of course there's a chance! I'm only asking you because, well, you're good with numbers and maths now aren't you?" I heard her whisper, "Nerd" under her breath.

Annoyed, I responded with, "About a -75% which is still higher then your intelligence level. Or should I say IQ?" I raised and eyebrow. It's no secret that she failed that test.

"Nice one!"

I turned around to see Odd with his hair jelled up and his backpack in one hand. "Serves you right Ms. Popularity. And that's _Ms. _don't forget. Ulrich would rather date Milly then you." He also whispered under his breath, "That lame dumbell". I laughed.

Sissi turned to me. "What's so funny?" She pointed to Odd. "_He's_ not. Shut up, you!" Then she paused and gave us her rather ugly smile. "Oh I get it. _It runs in the family!_" She strode away, laughing horridly.

"_It's runs in the family_," Odd mocked, even though he never very well that I was not part of his family. "Well, I'm glad I'm not in _her _family. Mr. Delmas must hate himself for it."

"You got that right," I agreed.

He and I both chuckled as we so often did around each other. Well, me at least. Odd can crack a joke anywhere he goes.

We headed back outside, which was less crowded. I was grateful that he didn't appear bothered by what had happened earlier. I don't know what got into me. I just – oh well. Hopefully it won't come up again.

"Look's like fall's here. That's great; better weather for walks," he said, winking at me. "And for hiding." Odd gave me a sly look.

"Huh?"

"Tag!"

"Hey!"

Odd was off in an instant, laughing the whole time.

"You better run!" I called, chasing after him. Thankfully, not many people seemed to notice, or care. He ran much faster then I expected. "Hey, Odd!" I shouted. "How come you never run like this for Gym?"

"I can't make Jim jealous now can I?" he screamed back, several yards ahead of me. I continued to run after him, with my arm outstretched to tag him. He ran away until he was out of sight. At the same time, we went further and further into the woods.

"Odd!"

No response.

"Odd, where are you?"

Still nothing. Only me and the forest surrounding me. "Please Odd, you know I hate being alone in the woods!" I cried. _Calm down, Aelita. You know Odd would never leave you alone here._

Then, suddenly there was a noise. "Pst!"

"Ah!"

"Gotcha!" Out stepped a boy wearing so much purple that he could be seen from a mile (I guess I could too with all of my pink but still).

"Odd!"

"Chill out. I'm just messing with you, Princess." He smiled cheekily.

"You are so lucky that I don't hate you or you'd be dead!" I huffed and turned away. Little did he know that this was all part of my mini-plan.

"Aelita, I'm sorry," said Odd, sincerely.

Slowly, very slowly, I turned back to him. Then I leaned over closer to him. My lips brushed against his ear and I whispered, "Odd?" I felt him shiver.

"Yeah?" His voice was quiet and he didn't move.

I tapped his shoulder. "You're it."

"Ha!" He tapped me back. "Tag backs!" And of course, he sped away again.

"I'm gonna get you!" I yelled after him. The threat wasn't serious. I skidded to a stop. If I said that to Jeremie, he probably would take it seriously. Then again, we probably wouldn't even be doing this. He might've a year ago, but now? No, probably not.

I spun around. Odd was gone again. "Odd?"

"Yoohoo!" He jumped out at me! "Surprise!"

"How dare you!" I exclaimed. "You – you – scrawny boy!"

"Hey," Odd faked an insulted look. "I am _not _scrawny! I'm svelte."

I snorted. "Yeah, sure, ok."

"What's that supposed to mean?" He demanded, shoving me playfully. "You're all skin and bones!"

"That's not true." I shoved him back when he poked me. "No one calls _me _scrawny."

"They call you bubblegum hair!"

"Hey! What are you then? That guy with two hair colors?" He made a move to shove me again, but I beat him to it. _Too slow._ I smirked.

I pushed him and he grabbed my wrists. _Huh? _"Hey, Odd?" I tired to pull free and started to laugh. "Odd what are you –?"

"Timber!"

We both collapsed on the ground in a fit of giggles. "Are you ok?" I asked, and opened me eyes. My breath stopped short. Once again, as it had been so many times, I found my crazy but lovable friend on top of me. It had never happened on Earth before though . . .

"Why is it that we always find ourselves in this position?" I whispered.

"You're guess is as good as mine, Princess."

Our perfect little moment was interrupted by my buzzing phone. I reached to grab it while Odd stumbled off of me, muttering as he did. We both stood up. Embarrassed, I turned away from him, but did see him stuff his hands in his pockets and face the ground. I pressed answer on my phone. "Hello?"

"Aelita?"

"Jeremie?" I snuck a look at Odd, who didn't look up. _Why is he suddenly so shy?_

"Where are you?"

"Oh, sorry. We got . . . caught up in . . . something."

"Oh well, hurry up. You're 30 minutes late!"

"We'll be there soon."

He didn't answer, but instead hung up. "Time to go, Odd."

"Oh, uh, ok." He smiled. "I'll lead the way!"

I followed him as we went into the sewers. He grabbed his skateboard but I hesitated at my scooter. "I really ought to get rid of this thing."

"Huh?" Odd stopped. "But I thought Jeremie bought it for you."

"No, it was his old one. Maybe I could try . . ." I trailed off and glanced at Ulrich's skateboard.

"Ok, ok, I get the picture." He chuckled. "Ulrich won't mind. He can't get mad at you. No one can!"

"Actually Jim can," I responded. _And Jeremie._

"Ah, G-I Jim gets mad at everyone! Even himself. You should've seen him yelling at himself when he hurt his back and was stuck in the infirmary for hours."

"Again?"

"Yep."

"That's funny." I grabbed Ulrich's board and grinned slyly. "We won't tell him that I borrowed this, right?"

"No way!"

I stepped on and began to ride down the sewers. "Hey, I'm doing it!"

"Nice job!" Odd called from behind me.

"It's like riding the Overboard. Not to hard." I sped up. "Once you get the hang of it."

"Hey, wait up!"

I giggled and rode by even faster. Oh why was I so worried? Odd and I are just fine. We can do the most ridiculous things around each other and not take it too seriously. And those sweet moments that are more serious but still amazing are just as great. _Oh, Odd. If only you knew how happy you make me . . ._

"Aelita watch out!"

"Whoa!" I immediately stopped and slipped. Oh my gosh, I was so close to the edge.

"Aelita!" Odd skidded to a stop, and of course, didn't fall. "Ouch." He winced at my bleeding knee. "You alright?"

I immediately covered it. "It's no big deal. C'mon, let's keep going."

"Uh, don't you wanna clean yourself up?" He questioned, hesitating. "I'll help you."

"I'm fine Odd, I'm ok." I didn't want him to worry over me and my recklessness. His concerned face didn't go away. "See?" I reached into my bag, pulled out a few band-aids and covered my scrape with them.

"Oh alright, but be careful, ok Princess?" He hopped back onto his board and faced me, still looking worried.

That bothered me. "Thanks for caring, but don't worry about me." I smiled softly. "I'm tougher then that remember?"

"Yeah, you are." He rode away slowly, waiting for me to catch up. I turned over Ulrich's skateboard right side up and my eyes widened; my hands were all bloody. I clasped them together and caught up to Odd.

When the elevator doors finally opened, Jeremie was facing us. "What took you guys so long?" he demanded.

Odd spoke up. "Well we –"

"Never mind," Jeremie cut him off. "We have work to do."

With a sigh from both of us, Odd and I hurried to the computer.

Jeremie began to speak in "techno lingo" as Odd put it. I tried to pay attention, but my mind kept wandering. This felt all too familiar.

I glanced at Odd, who's face was twisted into a confused expression. "Uh, Jeremie?"

"Yeah, Odd?" replied Jeremie, not looking up from the screen.

"How about the reader's digest version? Heh heehee . . ." (**A/N I CANNOT do Odd's goofball laugh, but hopefully you all know what it sounds like. It's so adorable/hilarious)**

Jeremie rolled his eyes. "Aelita, would you mind explaining?" he huffed.

I shuffled my feet nervously and glanced downwards at my red boots. "Actually, I think I should hear it again, too. I – don't really understand." I smiled nervously.

"What?" Jeremie turned around in his chair, confused. "We've been working on this for days even weeks now! Don't you remember?" His tone reminded me of my own yesterday; annoyed, impatient, and hopeful that it wasn't true.

I decided to tell the partial truth. "Well, my mind is . . . somewhere else . . ."

"Oh yeah? Where?" he demanded.

"Jeremie." I lifted my head. Odd looked at me with confused but curious eyes. Jeremie, upset, scowled. "Franz Hopper contacted me yesterday. I – I think I found my Daddy!" I exclaimed, tears of joy forming.

"He did?" Jeremie's glasses dropped slightly as his mouth opened. "When? What did he say? How did he reach you? Aelita!"

"Chill Jeremie. We'll play 20 questions later," joked Odd, standing from where he was.

Jeremie acted as if he didn't hear anything. "Show me," he demanded. "Maybe Franz can send us some information we can use."

"To materialize him," I reminded Jeremie. "Once he's here, he can help us in every way possible." I closed my eyes in wonder. _I can have some of my family back, at last. _Not that my friends weren't enough, but I'd already lost my mother and my father wasn't next!

"Right."

"He sent me a message from the Internet," I explained, digging through my bag. "On my laptop."

Jeremie read through the message:

_Aelita,_

_I can't escape from Xana for much longer. He's become too powerful, even more now that he's free. I don't know exactly where, since I cannot risk my life to find out, but I do know that Xana is planning to use the information he took from the supercomputer before his escape to create more version of Lyoko with more even supercomputers to create disaster on our world. I cannot track Xana, in fear that he will find and destroy me. I need you to re materialize me on Earth, only so I can help you and your friends in safety. Any power that can be given will help my strength grow, thus making me easier to find. I will send you information on my whereabouts when the time is safe. I hope to see you soon, my dear._

–_Franz Hopper_

"That's incredible! Now we know that Franz's alive and what Xana's up to! Why'd you think it was a trap, Princess?" Unlike Jeremie, Odd didn't sound critical.

"I don't want to think that," I insisted. "I just need to be positive that this isn't Xana's doing. I want to find my daddy, but I don't want Xana to kill us both."

Odd flinched when I said this. Jeremie looked grim.

"But Aelita, I don't think this is Xana. Would Xana say what his plans are?" Jeremie asked, reading over the message,

"He would if he was lying," I explained. "We could be sending power to Xana instead. I need to see my Daddy, hear from him again through my visions."

"Why risk it? He could be in more and more danger already!" insisted Jeremie.

I felt cold and numb at the thought of being alone. Xana winning . . . without my father it could be all over. "I know my father. This doesn't seem right to risk without knowing." I stopped to think. "I need to go to Lyoko. Back to sector 5."

"What? Not that again! We know what happened last time . . ." Jeremie trailed off, glancing at Odd.

"To a tower at least. I want to contact my father. I need to know for myself."

"I'll go with you." Odd spoke up.

"Great." I gave him a smile.

"Why?" Jeremie wanted to know.

"What if I get attacked while there? I can't be alone, can I?" It felt strange saying that. I was just so used to it being the other way around.

"C'mon, Einstein, we'll be back in no time," Odd tried to reassure him.

"Well alright. Hurry on down to the scanners."

Jeremie wasn't pleased. _He's noticed that Odd and I had grown closer. He's jealous. _I felt guilty for making him feel that way, even though it was his own fault for treating me so badly. _But I ran off to Lyoko with Odd first didn't I?_

"You coming Princess?" Odd asked while he stood in the elevator, his hand hovering over the button.

"Coming!" I called. Before I left, I spoke to Jeremie. "I'll be careful, I promise."

He didn't look at me. "That's not what I'm worried about," he barley mumbled. But I still heard.

I turned and hurried to the elevator, where Odd was waiting. We were silent the whole way down. I think he could tell that I wasn't happy.

Before the doors opened, I inquired quietly, "Is it my fault that Jeremie hates me?"

"Einstein doesn't hate you."

"He doesn't seem to like me nearly as much as he did before," I responded, my eyes glued to the floor.

Odd paced beside me. "He's just confused. He needs to figure himself out, that's all. Besides," he squeezed my hand, and I looked up, "no one could ever hate you."

My mouth opened slightly. I didn't know how to thank him.

"Cheer up. This is gonna be easy!" Odd grinned.

I beamed at him, grateful that I'd always have him to keep me smiling. I mouthed 'thanks' before stepping into the scanner.

**Yup, I finished earlier then I thought I would. I already finished Chapter 4, which is now gonna be Chapter 5. Sorry, but this turned out to be longer then I thought, and if I wrote out the rest, it would be way too long. I can't give away too much now can I? :D**

**Anyways, the next chapter should have much more action. I might start writing tomorrow, but Chapter 4 should be out by Tuesday. I finished typing this while using my mom's computer (I have to SLAM that Spacebar for it to work . . . just my luck) and I won't be able to use my dads until Tuesday. But on Tuesday, there'll be 2 chappies! Yay!**

**Review with any questions or opinions, but please no flames. :)**

**Thanks 4 Reading!**

**R&R**


	4. Chapter 4 Laughing and Shouting

**Holy crap I am so sorry! I know it's been months and I haven't gotten far, and honestly I'm as bad a writer as Rebecca Black is a singer (no offense to anyone who actually likes her songs). Shoot me, I suck. I did some editing and it takes work to make a good enough story. I mean some people have really cute shot stories. They're not bad, but not well developed enough. I didn't want to be that kind of author. So I worked at it. Here it is . . . chapter 4.**

**Disclaimer: I DO NOT OWN CODE LYOKO, MOONSCOOP AND TAFFY ENTERTAINMENT DO!**

**Aelita's P.O.V.**

"Virtualization!"

I landed with a slight thud, peering around me as I stood upright. We were in the Desert Sector.

Odd landed beside me in a cat like position. "Huh, it's deserted. Go figure."

It was true; there was not a single monster around us. Even though a tower hadn't been activated, I'd thought that Xana would take advantage of the situation. "I see the tower!" I declared, pointing ahead of me. Odd nodded.

"Good eye!" He tilted his head up and called to Jeremie. "Hey Jeremie, how bout a taxi?"

Jeremie materialized both the Overboard and the Overwing. "Huh?" Odd turned around in confusing and looked at me. "Isn't Aelita getting on the Overboard with me? **(A/N That line belongs to the writers of Code Lyoko Season 4 Episode 83 "Hard Luck." Sorry.)**

"Well, it's better if we have more vehicles. You never know what Xana has planned," replied Jeremie hastily. "Now, hurry up!"

With a regretful look and a shrug, Odd hopped on the Overboard and took off. I did the same with Yumi's Overwing. _Jeremie, you're honestly taking this too far. _I tightened my grip on the Overwing's handlebars and rode faster. _I can do what I want. Why can't you let me be? When have you ever –_

"Aelita, look out!"

"Huh? Oh!" A megatank's laser fired, hitting the Overwing_. _I crashed to the ground, sliding along until I hit a virtual boulder. With a groan, I rubbed my head and pulled my self upright. Another megatank joined the first. _Concentrate._ I closed my eyes and extended my hand. Slowly, with the power of creativity, another boulder appeared in front of me. The megatank fired, and it didn't hit me. I was saved! _But for how long?_

Off in the distance, Odd was still flying around, fighting the other megatank. "Hold still would ya? Ouch!"

_What was that? _"Odd! Bloks!" Two had appeared out of nowhere! "Xana knows we're here! That's all we needed."

"Sweet!" he quickly spun around and began to fire. "I'll name you Emerald and you Wilson! Laser arrow!" A perfect shot. "Oops, sorry Emerald, looks like your an only child now."

I watched as Odd could still joke during a serious time, and still do well. If only things were like that for me, too. I knew when to take things seriously, but being uptight was another thing. I shook my head. _That's not important now. _"Jeremie! Xana's found us!"

"I see it. Stay where you are. Odd can handle it."

I tightened my fists again in frustration. "And let Odd fight by himself?"

"Well uh, yes."

Annoyed, I responded with, "Jeremie, I'm fighting too. Remember, fighting Xana is _our_ job?"

I heard Jeremie sigh, also annoyed. "Fine. But be careful!"

A blok's laser hit my shoulder. I rubbed at my arm, realizing that not only did I need to get out of here, but that the laser was . . . green? And it stung! I hurried out of my spot, just as the last of my created boulder shattered. "Energy field!" The megatank's shell closed, blocking my attack. Hurried and panicking, I ran as fast as I could while the monster rolled after me. _Please don't run me over. _"Odd!"

He spotted me. "Hang on! Just need to break the news to Emerald that I've found a new friend to play with." He raced off, with the monster on his tail.

I skidded to a stop and jumped. Just then, it felt like everything was in slow motion. As I flew through the air, I saw the megatank fall over the edge. And so did I.

"Ahhhh!" I screamed as I grasped the very edge with one hand. My left hand – my weak one – was barley gripping onto land! Despite the fear, I turned my head and saw the blindingly bright gold digital sea below me. _So far . . . yet so close . . . _"Help me!" My hand slid further. I tried to grab the edge with my free hand, but that made it worse.

"Hold on, I'll bring you back in Aelita!"

"No!" I protested. "I came to find information on my father! I'm not –" My voice trembled, "leaving!"

"You can't fall into the digital sea!"

"I won't!" With a tremendous and painful effort, I pulled myself up slightly with my arm that held on for dear life. "Odd! Help!"

"Aelita!" His voice sounded so far away.

"Odd, quickly, hurry! Aelita's about to fall into the digital sea!" Jeremie cried. Even during my distressed state, I felt a sense of relief. For a second, everything sounded normal. Jeremie didn't sound angry at Odd or me.

"I'm on it Jeremie! Hang on Aelita!"

"It . . . hurts!" I cried, my fingers holding me up now. "It's hurting me!"

"Aelita!"

"I – I can't hang on!" My fingers slipped. "AHHH!" _This is it._

"Gotcha!"

My eyes were still wide, but my hand was now held by someone else's warm paw. It could only be one person. "Odd!"

"At your service, Princess." He tugged at my hand with both of his and pulled me up.

I took a deep breath; I'd never been so close to falling before. And why had it hurt so badly? I shouldn't feel that kind of pain on Lyoko.

Panting with relief, I turned to face Odd, who was much closer than I expected. Sitting only a few inches away, I spoke, "I – uh, thank you. Again." Feeling stupid, I angled my head towards the desert floor.

"Hey."

"Hmm?" I turned around, raising my eyebrows.

"Don't scare me like that again, Princess." He tried to feign his emotions. But underneath the joking tone, I could sense genuine worry and seriousness. He meant it.

A sweet smile overcame my face. "I won't. Don't worry."

"Oh I'm not worried," he grinned faintly.

I remembered from long ago when we spoke those same words (**A/N Season 1: Episode 15 Laughing Fit)** A chuckled escape my parted lips.

"Let me just call up a taxi. Hello Misty!" Odd exclaimed as he beckoned to his Overboard. I laughed and hopped on. "Now I trust that you can _handle _my dear Misty now can't you?" He asked me.

I simply replied in a cheerful tone, "If I can handle you then I can handle your Overboard, Odd."

"Right. I'll take that as a compliment."

"Well my fair Princess, you're tower awaits you," Odd helped me off of his Overboard and gestured to the tower.

"Why thank you." I mocked the same polite tone that he used.

"Hey, no stealing my –" He stopped. "Uhh . . ."

I raised an eyebrow. "What? Your fake polite tone?"

"Yeah. Hey!"

I giggled. "You're so silly."

He playfully punched my arm.

I hurried into the tower. Once I got there, I placed my hand on the screen, waiting for the windows to pop up. Instead, only one showed, and it flashed red. "Huh?" I tried again. Nothing new. "Jeremie?"

"I see it."

Squinting, I leaned forward, noticing that the window showed the program from sending information from the tower to the supercomputer and vice versa. Not hesitating, I touched the screen again. This time the whole screen blinked from blue to red. "The entire system is bugged up!"

"Yeah, I know."

"Should I try to fix it fr –"

"Of course you should try to fix it," snapped Jeremie.

My hand balled up. "I _meant_ should I go to Sector 5 and fix it?"

"Sector 5?"

"Yes." I sighed, wishing that he wasn't still hung up about this. After all, it was a good thing that Odd and I were there last time; Xana was attacking the core of Lyoko. But Jeremie was too concerned about his own selfish pride. "Look Jeremie, let's forget about the past and focus on now. If we can't de-bug this then that means that we can't bring back my father!"

There was a pause. Silence. I waited for Jeremie's response. "Alright. Go on. I'll call Ulrich and Yumi for backup."

I allowed myself to smile, grateful. "Thanks Jeremie." I would've gone even without his permission, but I was really just glad that he was opening up a bit to the idea of Odd and I going off alone again. I exited the tower, already hoping that the mission would be easy and Xana wouldn't try anything.

"Hey, Aelita." Odd, who had seated himself on his Overboard, hopped off to ask, "Why the long face?"

"Save it, Odd. We've got a problem," said Jeremie.

"Huh?"

"Xana's bugged up the program that sends information from Lyoko to the supercomputer," I explained, stepping onto his board. "We have no time to loose."

"Ok." He backflipped onto the Overboard and I held onto him gingerly. "Here we go!" Odd's tail flicked as we spun through the air. I wondered what it would be like to have a tail.

"Hey, Odd what's it like to have a tail?"

He grinned. "It's cool." His voice lowered. "It shows my emotions doesn't it?" I swear it just wagged.

Chuckling slightly, I responded, "I'm guessing you're happy?"

"You bet!"

"And the paws?"

"They're awesome too! All I need are some ears!" He joked, patting his head. "Hey Einstein? You think you could program me some cat ears?"

"Hang on Odd. I'm trying to get a hold of Yumi!" Jeremie snapped again.

"Jeremie, calm down." I tried to stay calm myself.

He must've ignored me because I heard him speaking to Yumi. "Ah Yumi. Emergency on Lyoko! Come to the lab!"

Odd and I could only hear his side of the conversation. Even if we could here Yumi speaking, I doubt that we would be able to hear her, because Odd and I just swerved our way through several stones jutting out from the ground. I shrieked in delight at the thrill. _Oh, Odd, I'll never outgrow you and your daredevil ways._

"What? What's wrong with Ulrich?" Jeremie spoke again. There was a pause. "He's sulking? Can you try and find him? . . . Ok, just come quickly!"

I tugged at Odd's arm. "Did you know about this?" I asked him.

He held up his hands defensively. "Not me! Einstein?"

"I didn't know anything," he shot back. "Why do you think I do?"

"I was just asking, jeez!"

My hands tightened around his waist.

"You'd be the first to know if something was wrong with Ulrich!" accused Jeremie.

Odd rolled his eyes. "Actually that'd be _Yumi _Jeremie. You'd know by now. Or maybe you're too busy sitting in front of a computer!"

"Odd!" I gasped.

"Yeah, well maybe you're too busy checking out every girl you see that you don't even notice that one of us is gone!" Jeremie fired back.

"Jeremie!" I shouted.

"You think you own – " They both started to say. I screamed out.

"STOP!" With an upset huff, I leaped off of the board and landed on the ground. Odd immediately stopped and landed beside me, but Jeremie spoke first.

"What are you doing?"

I didn't answer.

"Aelita are you ok?" Odd asked me.

I turned away. "I'm sick of you two fighting!"

"Ok, so you're not ok," he said and backed away.

"Odd, you should know that Jeremie works hard. Yes, he does sit in front of computer a lot, but it's for a good cause." Why was that so hard to say? "And Jeremie! I wish you could just get over it!"

"Um, get over _what _Aelita?"

I actually scoffed. "You – you and your pride. And your attitude!"

"Don't hate me for being myself Aelita? I thought you knew me!" exclaimed Jeremie.

"And I thought you knew _me _Jeremie!" I shouted.

"I do! I know all about you!"

"_No you don't!"_

Silence.

_This is ridiculous. Now you're fighting with him, too. _If I could cry on Lyoko, I would.

"Uh, Aelita . . . " Odd hesitated slightly. "We should get going. I mean, we wouldn't want Xana to get bored now would we?"

I barley looked up. "All right."

"Get going," ordered Jeremie.

I rolled me eyes. _Honestly Jeremie, first you want to do all you can to keep us from going to Sector 5, and now you want us there as soon as possible._ I shook my head, trying to focus. Lately, concentrating had become harder for me. But I did notice three Krabs guarding the edge of the sector. "Look!" I pointed. "Xana's not giving up on us easily!"

Odd slowed down on the Overboard. "Huh, guess his monsters just can't get enough of me, can they?" He began to fire. "Laser arrow! Crap, I missed."

I tried to charge up an energy field, but Odd was moving really fast. "Woah! Odd slow down would'ja?" 

"No can do Princess. Misty can't get hit!"

Just then, Misty_ was_ hit.

We landed on the ground right in front of the Karbs.

"Ok, so bye-bye Misty," mumbled Odd. We began to attack, dodging every laser we could. I created a shield with two energy field and held in in front of me.

Meanwhile, Odd was messing with a Krab. It didn't see him behind it, and of course, Odd made a big entrance. "Peek-a-boo!" He slid underneath it. "Surprise!" He shot a series of laser arrows its stomach. It was destroyed and I grinned. "Yeah!" cheered Odd. "Ow!" The Karb fired a green laser at him, too. "That really stings! C'mon Krabie what did I ever do to you? Other than blow up your friend." The Karb fired, nearly hitting him again. "All right already cool it!" He hurried to join me.

"Jeremie, any news on Yumi and Ulrich?" I asked, dodging the monster's lasers.

"Hold on, I'm calling Yumi," he replied. "I'm trying to work here."

Sighing, I leaped up into the air, separated my energy fields, and threw them. One hit right on target. Only the last one was left.

"Hey Jeremie, where's our backup?" Odd asked.

He didn't answer.

"Jeremie?" I asked.

"Yumi's being attacked. Xana sent a specter after her. You'll have to deactivate the tower. It's in the mountain sector." Jeremie, once again, sounded a but more normal.

"How can I deactivate it when the system is all bugged up?" I asked.

"It should work. Xana only bugged up the program for sending information. I'll check to make sure that deactivating towers still is working."

"Where's the way tower?"

"A few degrees north. You should be able to see it west of the neutral one. Hurry up!"

"We're on it Einstein!" called Odd, who just destroyed the final Krab. "Let's go!"

"Hey Odd?"

"Yeah?"

"That laser that hit you and it hurt. . . it was green wasn't it?"

We were currently riding on Ulrich's Overbike in the Mountain Sector. It was a little too quiet, but we were driving fast and had only been here a few minutes. Still, with no monsters in sight, I was getting suspicious. I knew well enough now that Xana always had something planned.

"Yeah," he said slowly. "Why, is Xana getting tired of red already?"

"I don't know," I admitted. "Jeremie, when Odd and I were hit by those lasers, did you notice anything unusual?"

"No. You just lost life points like usual. But in case you haven't forgotten, the supercomputers bugged up so it's not giving the right results," Jeremie reminded me in an annoyed tone.

"C'mon Einstein, she was just asking," said Odd.

"Yes, I know Odd. But she should know better, that's all."

I grit my teeth together, resisting the urge to snap back. Instead I went back to my conversation with Odd. "It hurt me too. It hurt when I was hit and holding onto the edge."

"That's weird," agreed Odd. "Xana's done this before. But maybe green just 'cuz he likes Christmas!"

"Really Odd?"

"Yes."

I laughed briefly, but just then, the tower came into sight. And so did two tarantulas.

"Heads up," Odd yelled at them. "Aelita, jump now!"

We both leaped off of the bike, seconds before it crashed into the monsters. "Nice plan," I complimented him.

Odd bowed. "Thank you, thank you. Odd thinks of everything!" Then he winked.

"Will you two just deactivate the tower already? Yumi's in trouble, and Ulrich could be too for all we know!" exclaimed Jeremie.

My eyes widened. I wanted to scream until I told myself that he was right. _If only he wouldn't yell in all of the sentences he says, I might have more self control! _So I quickly deactivated the tower. While I was there, I tried one more time to access the bugged up files.

"Aelita!" shouted Jeremie. "Why are you trying to do? It's messed up, you know that!"

I but my tongue and simply decided to stop answering, When I exited the tower, Odd was waiting. "So off to Sector 5?" he asked.

Right as I was about to answer, a horribly familiar sound sounded. "The scyphozoa!" Jeremie exclaimed.

"Launch a return to the past, quick Jeremie!" I shouted.

The scyphozoa moved forward. It was surprisingly quick, and Odd and I shot at it. Nothing worked.

Odd was further back than I was. The scyphozoa was coming closer and closer. My mouth hung open. _"Run Aelita, run!" _"Huh?" _Oh my god, was – was that – _

"_Run!" _The voice in my head pleaded again.

"Daddy?" I whispered.

"Make it fast Einstein!" Odd called.

"I'm on it!"

The monster's tentacles reached forward glowing green on the ends.

"Return to the past now!"

"Are you sure your ok?" I asked Yumi.

"Yeah, the specter didn't do too much harm though. But he was about to." Yumi responded from her end of the phone. I was using my own, because Jeremie was busy on the computer, fixing the system errors.

"Close call, huh?" I said.

"Yeah, but you did it. Just in time," replied Yumi, sounding grateful. "Are Odd and Jeremie ok?"

"We're all good," I assured her. "And Ulrich?"

She hesitated. "He seemed fine."

Noticing that something seemed wrong, I inquired, "Is everything all right? You two seem . . . unhappy."

"W-what, no we're fine. Totally cool," stuttered Yumi. She cleared her throat and added, "Anyways, I gotta go. Hiroki's threatening to tell my mom that I've been _talking _to Ulrich for the past four hours that I was gone unless I help him clean up. See ya tomorrow."

"See ya." I didn't want to push her on the issue with Ulrich. Besides, he would tell us when he was ready.

And Xana's attack had been stopped, thank goodness. All that was left was fixing the transmission link from Lyoko to the supercomputer. "Hey Princess." Odd appeared in front of me. "Einstein needs you."

I moved across the room and positioned myself next to the computer. "Any luck fixing it?"

Jeremie brightened slightly. I was offering to help with the supercomputer, after all. "Yeah. I mean sort of." I raised an eyebrow. "Well I still have to finish up. There are still some programs that I have to find and some codes to reuse. But if we work together, we can get it all done."

"I can work alone Jeremie."

"What?" Jeremie turned around with his chair.

"I said I can work alone." I looked down.

"But – why?"

"Look at yourself Jeremie. You've been working non-stop. You need to eat and rest, your body needs it." I placed my hands on my hips.

Jeremie stood up. "And you?"

"I'll manage. Besides, you wanted me to work right?" I sat down in the chair. "So I will." 

"C'mon Einstein. Lunch in five minutes. And if your stomach can't wait than neither can mine!" Odd said gleefully.

Jeremie sighed. "Yeah, fine."

I forced a smile, but wondered why he gave in so easily.

He started towards the elevator. I started to bring up a few files, knowing that plenty of work was ahead of me.

"Good luck Princess!" Odd called from the elevator.

"Thanks!"

Jeremie may not know it, but I was more devoted now to finding my father than before. I heard his voice, and hopefully I will again. "Stay strong Aelita," I said to myself.

**Ok, there it is. Guess it shouldn't have taken so long. It's not my favorite chapter, only cuz action is more fun to see than read, and I suck at writing it. Oh well, practice makes perfect. The next chapter I like much better. Yes, they'll be posted at the same time. Stay tuned my lovelies! Creepy? Well alrightie.**

**R&R!**


	5. Chapter 5  Too Late?

**Yes, I'm back . . . again. I've promised new chapters didn't I? Well, here you have it. Sorry again for the delay. If you don't know why, read my Author's Note on my profile. Now, once again, I'm sorry if anyone's OOC, I'll explain why at the end. **

**DISCLAIMER: I do not own Code Lyoko, Moonscoop and Taffy Entertainment do. **

**~ Enjoy mi amigos! ~**

**Aelita's P.O.V.**

I was working for hours, I knew that. Not that I bothered to pay attention to the exact time; I was too busy. My father might still be out there somewhere, and I wasn't stopping until I made some progress. So far I hadn't done much. I was looking for ways to send my father some power. He seemed so weak and I needed to help him.

"_Don't worry Daddy, I won't give up on you . . ."_

Shaking my head, I continued looking through old programs, wondering if we even needed half of them. I could delete them and use that extra space to make new programs for my father's strength. _No, not without asking Jeremie. I can't have him mad at me again. I could always write down the programs that we don't need and ask him about it._

Yes that would do. Quickly, I pulled out my notebook, and remembered the dry blood on my hands and winced. Sanitizer. Yes, I had some. I grabbed it out of my bag, rubbed it onto my hands, wrote down the programs, and continued searching for more.

On and on, I went. I felt myself growing hungry and tired. "This must be how Jeremie feels," I said aloud. Oh well, this was more important than anything. I promised Daddy.

"Hey there Princess." I turned my head to see Odd standing not to far away, just emerging from the elevator. When he saw me working, he chuckled. "Just like Einstein, huh? That guy knows how to make a smart girl who works hard work harder."

I smiled softly. "You're here alone?"

"Einstein had to finish some stuff and I haven't seen Ulrich and Yumi." He shrugged and joined me at the computer. "Maybe they're 'busy', if you know what I mean." He wagged his eyebrows suggestively.

I giggled. "Odd!"

He held up his hands defensively. "Well, I said maybe. They're 'busy' and didn't come back 'cuz they knew I'd be here saying 'I told you so!'"

"Yeah, or maybe they're already at school." I rolled my eyes. "You're so strange."

"Why, thank you," Odd replied, mocking an English accent.

"Anytime. Want to go to dinner?"

Odd looked confused and glanced at the computer. "Don't you need to uh – finish what you were doing?" I opened my mouth. He quickly added, "I mean, I want you to come with me it's just, uh . . ." He rubbed the back of his neck, laughing nervously.

I chuckled. "It's ok. I have to ask Jeremie a few things. Once he answers my questions, I'll finish working from my room. I'm done here."

"Alright then. Time for . . . meatballs and gravy!" He exclaimed.

I laughed and linked my arms through his. "Off we go!"

Odd towed me along all the way to the sewers, where I grabbed Ulrich's skateboard again. Odd gave me a concerned look, but didn't say anything. The ride back was a little edgy at first. My knee still stung a bit, and I think Odd's still worried about me falling again. I could understand why. After all, he wasn't used to seeing me get hurt on Earth. On Lyoko, you only lost life points and maybe felt weaker, but it never really hurt. I hadn't really been devirtualized badly enough that I would feel it once I got out of the scanner, either.

Either way, it was sweet that he cared, but I wish people – especially Odd – wouldn't worry too much about me.

Determined to break the awkward silence, I spoke up, "I'll bet you that Ulrich will be in cafeteria later and Yumi won't be there."

"No way, Yumi will be there saying that Ulrich didn't come because he's sulking," Odd replied from ahead of me.

"Is that a bet?"

"You bet that's a bet!"

"You're on!"

I sped up slightly. Odd was really good; I'd never noticed before. "Hey Odd?"

"Yeah?" He turned his head slightly.

I hesitated but only for a moment. "Would you mind . . . showing me how to skateboard some day?" He probably wouldn't have guessed that I like to try sports. I want to learn new things. Aside from computers and mixing, I hadn't done many hobbies.

We arrived at the end of our path. I set aside Ulrich's board neatly and waited for Odd's response.

"Sure thing Princess," he said cheerfully. I smiled and followed him up the ladder. "You'll see, it's really awesome. Full of action!" He climbed out and offered his hand to help me out. _Just like Ulrich does with Yumi. _I accepted, and grabbing his hand as he lifted me out. I blushed and remembered earlier on Lyoko.

_=Flashback=_

_His hand, or really paw, reached out to grab my hand and pull me back. The megatanks laser missed and instead destroyed the block firing. I sighed, relieved. "Nice one, Odd."_

"_No problemo." He gave me a goofy smile. I grinned and noticed our fingers still entertwined. His paws were so much bigger then my tiny hands. I squeezed his paw. He was so protective, in his own way._

_=End of Flashback=_

"Yoohoo? Anyone home?"

I shook my head rapidly.

"Aelita?"

"Yes?"

"Like to daydream there?" Odd joked.

"Oh, uh - " I didn't really know exactly what to say. Hoping that he would forget it, I shrugged._ He must thing I'm crazy!_

"You sure you're ok, Princess?" Odd looked uneasy. "I mean, you seem, um . . ."

"Thoughtful?" I was.

"Yeah . . ."

"I guess I am. Does it bother you?"

"No, well, I mean, I'm just not used to it," Odd answered, almost looking guilty.

_What? Don't be guilty for this Odd. You didn't do anything. _

"I shouldn't be bugging you so much. Sorry, Aelita. Don't thing I'm trying to change you or anything. You're perfect the way you are!"

I would've turned red if I wasn't so upset now. "No, Odd, I'm sorry. I make you worry too much." I sighed and faced the ground. "You should never have to feel so worried Odd. Happy people like you don't deserve sadness."

"Aelita." He touched my shoulder. "Just 'cuz I'm a happy person doesn't mean I don't care about my friends. That's something I take seriously, believe it or not."

"I believe it." The corners of my mouth turned up slightly.

"Yeah, and with you, it's ok for me to be serious."

"You can, don't think that I'm saying that. I just don't want you upset over me. Anything else would make me listen and not judge."

Odd sighed, put his hands behind his head, and leaned back a tree nearby. "Oh, everybody else expects me to be 100% happy Odd who has to joke to everything. I love to joke and all; it's better than always being too serious. But you can always show more, you know?"

"I know how you feel. Everyone thinks I'm 100% nerdy Aelita who's always a damsel in distress. I can joke around, too. Not many people know that." I felt annoyed at that, until Odd answered,

"I guess we have that in common, Princess." He paused, and faced me. "But you know what?" His tone lightened. "With you, I'm also happier, too."

Touched, I pulled him into a quick hug, "Me too. Thanks Odd."

"If you thank me, then I thank you." He laughed as his stomach growled. "And since you know me so well, I'll waste no time in saying I'm starving! Time for -"

"Meatballs and gravy! Your favorite," I nudged him.

"Wow, you really do know me well. Let's go!"

"Don't forget your bet!" I called out, since he started to run to the cafeteria.

"Oh I won't. And I'm gonna win it too!" He smirked.

I hurried to catch up. "Now there's the competitive Odd I've always known and loved just as much as every side of him."

"Thanks Princess."

While Odd was begging Rosa for seconds, I sat down across from Jeremie, who was sitting alone.

"Oh, hi Aelita!" He sounded happy enough. I was a little confused as to why, but was really just glad that he seemed to be getting over everything. "How did your research go?"

"It was ok. I mean, I didn't do too much, but I need to ask you about some of it. It'll help a lot once we're done." I poked at my mashed potatoes.

Jeremie's face lit up. "Let's meet up in my room and we can work on it."

"Tonight?"

"Yes, definitely. We can also work on getting you and the others into the Internet when we're done." He gave me a hopeful look that would pressure me into saying yes.

"Well, ok." I turned to notice that Odd had sat beside me and began to eat almost immediately.

As if on command, Jeremie leaned forward and asked a bit loudly, "So Aelita, what are you doing this weekend?"

"We're going to the skate park," Odd answered for me, his mouth full.

I chuckled until I noticed Jeremie's stare. "Skate park?" he demanded.

"Yeah." Odd swallowed his bite. "Skateboarding. She can borrow Yumi's."

"Or Ulrich's." Jeremie's voice was hard again. "And then what? She'll fall and cut herself even more?"

_How did he know? I didn't see him looking at my knee. Could he tell that that was Ulrich's skateboard?_

"It was an accident Jeremie!" I protested.

"I thought you were more responsible than that Aelita! What's wrong with you? Can't you ever think the right way anymore? Don't you want to stop Xana?"

"But Jeremie –"

"Whatever."

Upset, I lowered my head, a look of hurt on my face. _And after I thought he was happier. All I want is for Jeremie to be kind again. Not needy and platonic. Can't he see how much it hurts? I used to think we could be together Jeremie, despite how much you've changed. Why did you have to? Just friends is fine for me. I can't even think of being with you ever again. _A tear slid down my cheek.

I noticed Odd glaring, almost growling at Jeremie **(A/N: Similar to how he was at the end of episode 28 "Uncharted Territory" at Sissi)**. _What's wrong? _His fists were clenched under the table. _Oh no, he must've seen how upset I am . . ._ I touched his hand from under the table and gave him a pleading look. His pale blue eyes widened at me. I forced a smile for him.

Jeremie looked as if he was going to interfere. Then Ulrich sat down beside him, looking angry at himself. "Ulrich." I sounded surprised. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing." He didn't look up.

"Lemme guess," Odd began after inhaling more food, "you failed another test?

"No."

"Ran into Sissi?"

"_No._"

"Saw William with Yumi?"

"_No!"_

"Well come on, out with it," Odd pushed.

"I'd rather not talk about it."

Odd's face lit up. "Oh? You ran into Jim?"

"_NO!" _

"Ulrich, please don't get so upset. Just tell us what's wrong and we'll help you," I said, hoping to convince him.

"Leave me alone," he muttered, getting up and leaving us stunned into silence.

"Well that guy sure loves to sulk." Jeremie rolled his eyes. "He comes in and then leaves. Wow, pointless."

"I hate when he's like this," I mumbled, watching the door where he stormed out. "Something must've happened with Yumi."

"Don't worry Princess. He'll crack tonight. That's what roommates are for!" He also stared at the door.

"Confessions behind closed walls," I joked. "What do you have to confess?"

"Now why would I tell you?" He teased.

"Why not?" I smirked, playfully.

"Well Aelita, we'll be busy behind closed walls," Jeremie cut in. "We still have to finish helping Franz Hopper and getting onto the Internet to track Xana."

"Oh, ok. And Odd, I won the bet."

"Hey, I –"

"Unless of course, you'll be busy skateboarding." Jeremie cut in again.

I closed my eyes. "Please Jeremie, not this again." Odd's fist tightened under my hand.

"Aelita what bothers me is that –"

"What Jeremie? What? That I'm living a little?" I demanded. Odd tensed up even more.

Jeremie raised his voice. "It's like you don't even care about your own father! Do you even want to save him? Is your life more important than his? You're being selfish! Xana might destroy him while you're off doing who knows what!"

I gasped. "How – how dare you – you!" I felt my eyes water up in anger. How could he even _think_ that I didn't care about Daddy? The one thing I want most is to bring him back so we can defeat Xana together. I really want that. But that doesn't mean I can't live my life. Daddy would want that. My breath caught up as the tears fell. I sprang up from my seat. "You jackass," I whispered under my breath as I passed by.

"Aelita!" Jeremie grabbed my arm.

I yanked it loose and glared. "Don't you dare touch me! In fact, _don't you even talk to me!_" I ran out of there, ignoring the stares and Odd calling out my name. For once, I didn't want him to follow me. I just need to be alone.

As my eyes scanned across the campus, I knew the once place I could go to be by myself.

_Two Hours Later_

My head hurt immediately when I woke up. I was of course at the Hermitage and Odd wasn't waiting in the doorway the last time I cried here, in my old bedroom. I missed that reassurance, but at the same time, I was glad that he didn't have to see me cry.

The sun was setting in the sky from where I could see outside the opened window. "Oh no, I fell asleep," I whispered to myself. "Better head back." My old tattered pillow was drying from my salty tears. With a heavy sigh, I stood upright and trudged downstairs, trying to clear my mind. It was hard, especially after what Jeremie said. I never cursed at anyone, friends included. This was a first, and at Jeremie too, of all people.

I turned around to see the piano in the corner of the messy living room. Grabbing my head, I could hear the music. Twinkle Twinkle Little Star. My father always played it; it was the first song I ever learned.

_Calm down, Aelita. _I blinked and heard my father's voice.

"_Aelita! Aelita, can you hear me?"_

"Daddy?" My stomach dropped and my head spun. _Is this real? Is my father? . . ._

"_Aelita, I know you can hear me. Darling, I can speak now to you in your mind. You're connection to Lyoko improves you intuition."_

"That means you've gotten stronger! Daddy, how do I help? You sound so far away . . ." I pleaded.

"_Aelita, I trust you. You do what you can. I'm still safe from Xana. For now. As long as I can speak with you, it'll be alright."_

"I'll do everything I can to save you. I promise," I felt a tear slid down my cheek.

"_Thank you so much my dear. For everything you've done. I love you, sweetie. Stay safe. Xana is becoming more powerful."_

"I love you too, Daddy. I'll bring you back one day, don't worry."

The walk back was a long one, but it was worth it. There was a small smile on my face. I'd made progress with my father. Soon, he could be here on Earth. "I can hardly wait," I whispered, excited. "I need to tell the others!" No, wait. "I can't." After all, I didn't even want to see Jeremie. Yumi was at home. Ulrich was sulking, and Odd was probably talking to him about whatever was wrong. "I'll tell them tomorrow. Most of them, anyway."

I sighed and hurried back to my dorm, hoping I wouldn't run into anyone. No such luck. "Jeremie?"

"Aelita!" He was holding pink flowers. _Huh? Jeremie's never gotten me flowers for anything. _"I'm really sorry Aelita. Now, I'll understand if you're mad. I don't think you should be though."

"What?"

"I wish you could forgive me. I need you Aelita. You know that." He handed me the flowers.

I – I didn't understand. He yells then apologizes. And with flowers. I want to forgive him, but I don't know if I can. After all that he's said and how he's acted. Did he really mean it? I couldn't tell.

"Jeremie, listen. I need to think about it, ok? I don't want any trouble in our group but you really hurt me. I don't hate you even after what you said. Let me forgive you on my own time."

"But Aelita – I need you to help me with the super computer. And we can look for Franz Hopper together!"

"Jeremie, I wish you would say that you want me there as a friend, not as a working partner," I opened my door and stepped in. "As a friend."

Jeremie stood there, speechless, but staring at me. Upset and exasperated, I slammed the door. Why? Why do people have to change? Some change for worse . . . like Jeremie. And some for better . . . like Odd.

And speaking of Odd, he was the only person who'd ever gotten me flowers.

_=Flashback=_

"_What's this?" I raised my eyebrows and looked pleased._

"_For you," Odd handed me a bouquet of pink roses. _

"_Oh, thank you Odd," I blushed and cradled the flowers in my arms. "But – uh what for?"_

_He grinned. "Today's the day I met you."_

"_Oh yeah. I remember. You said I was a 'real cutie with very good taste'". _

"_You are! Jeremie's one lucky guy. He's lucky I don't sweep you off your feet right now." He joked, waving his arms in a sweeping gesture._

_I giggled; he's so funny. I really needed laughter. Bad history grade, a run in with Sissi who called me a 'pink haired geeky wannabe', and an argument with Jeremie. over my anti-virus _**(A/N: This flashback takes place in Season 2) **

"_Besides, I thought you'd want something to cheer you up," Odd added. He wrapped one arm around me._

"_Thanks Odd. You always know just what to say."_

_=End of Flashback=_

I smiled at the memory, as I often did whenever I though of Odd. Then I realized that Odd's been nothing but the best to me since day one; and Jeremie's stopped._ What if Jeremie's just . . . too late?_

**I just love to end it with suspense don't I? Haha. :) **

**And if you're wondering about Odd, I usually hate to make him serious. But if you watch the show, you'll know that he is sensitive sometimes and can get mad. I still made sure that he stayed happy and the joking pig that we all know and love (I know I do . . . lucky you Aelita). However, in love, you're able to show the one you love every side of you without fear and they'll understand, 'cuz there's nothing to hide. Did I say love? Oops . . . teehee.**

**As for Jeremie, he's such an idiot and really doesn't know how to talk to girls AT ALL, especially from Season 3 onwards. That's another reason I made this story take place in Season 3. I didn't want Odd and Aelita's relationship to be _quite _there yet, and Jeremie's suddenly such a douche now that his voice has changed and they're in 9th grade. To think I thought he was fine in Seasons 1 and 2! Estupido idiota! But he won't be a douche forever . . . will he?**

**Well, sorry for my rant. Thanks 4 reading. :D**

**R&R!**


	6. AN (Explaining and Apology Just read)

Hello, dear readers.

First off, I grant you permission to burn me with torches. Not that I'd want it, but I deserve it. I haven't written in months for my story, and as a new author, I know that it must be annoying and disappointing. I haven't read any Code Lyoko FanFiction in awhile, so reading my own brought back memories from a year ago. To be honest, I started this when I was 12-13 and though it was pretty good, I'm actually a little embarrassed. My writing has gotten a lot better as the months passed, so a year later at 14-years-old (yeah, there's my age, deal with it), I'd had more experience under my belt, despite still being pretty young. But I can't help but cringe at some of my cheesy and not very well written sentences. Yet somehow, I still have 25+ reviews for 5 chapters and I want to thank each and every one of you for your support. It's because of all of you amazing writers and readers that I had the motivation to go on. That and my love for Code Lyoko.

I seriously just got carried away with life. I have insane amounts of homework. It's so bad, that I'm writing this at 2:00am because before that I was doing projects, essays, etc. Kill me, please. Anyways, I've had a severe writers block from my other story, the one I'd written outside of FanFiction, which had been in my head for nearly 4 years, and only recently had I dove back into it. It's truly my main focus, but I don't want to stop with Best Friends Until the End. Isn't that a stupid title? What brain dead idiot came up with it? Never mind, don't answer that, unless you can tell me how to change it on this confusing site. The point is, I will keep writing. And soon will I reach double digit chapters, I promise.

FanFiction is hard to write, especially in first person. The only reason it's easy now is because I know myself better than anyone, and the Code Lyoko characters aren't mine, so it's difficult to get into their minds, no matter how many episodes I watch again and again. I did an all right job before, but hope to do better as my writing progresses and improves. Now, don't be surprised for 10,000% better writing, such as romance scenes that would make Shakespeare turn over in his grave with jealousy. But it will be better, and I have too many ideas to abandon. I'd also like to clarify that I'm writing this to avoid too many A/N's in the next chapter. FanFiction is hard to write. It's insanely enjoyable, but hard.

I'm sure there are some questions, but as the story goes on, the reasons why Jeremie is a faggot, or why Hopper is out there somewhere, will be explained. It will. I swear.

In the meantim,e I've posted a poll on my page about what to do with BFUTE. No one had taken it yet. I don't blame anyone for having lost faith in me, but I'll give the poll and month or so. In the meantime, I'll write.

I hope to hear from you soon. You'll be hearing from me. I love you all! But not as much as Odd. Nothing personal, but I think you'll understand ;) Thanks again everybody.

~E.E.107

P.S. How sweet does Code Lyoko Evolution look? I loved this old Code Lyoko, but I'm still stoked just to have it back!


	7. Chapter 6 You Know Nothing

**Chapter Six**

Aelita's P.O.V.

It hadn't even been 24 hours since my encounter with Jeremie that I discovered that there was even more tension in the group. It upset me, knowing very well that things change, more often for worse. But the unnecessary drama between Odd, Jeremie, and I was only the beginning.

"Ok, I got your text," I explained to Yumi. "What's going on?" She had her foot propped up on a bench on the campus, leaning against her leg and staring down at the ground. A dejected but moody expression crossed her face.

"Haven't you heard already?" she snapped and turned to face me. "Hasn't Odd told you?"

I widened my eyes, panicking inside. _Does Yumi know all about that? I thought I was hiding it better. _"What do you mean?" I asked instead, hoping that the ongoing fight between the three of us wasn't too noticeable.

"They're _roommates_," she snapped. "I'm sure Ulrich's said all he wants to Odd about it. I'm guessing he told you and Jeremie, right?"

"No, you told me. At least, you were going to," I reminded her gently. Truthfully, I felt relieved, but guilty. I was glad she wasn't worried and didn't know about my drama, until it occurred to me that a similar thing was probably happening to her. Especially if Ulrich is involved.

She softened. "Sorry, it's not your fault. It's just – him and his stupid jealousy!"

_Jealousy._ "Why don't we go for a walk?" I suggested, hoping she'd calm down.

She glanced up at the horizon. "Yeah, sure why not?"

I smiled. "Come on."

I led her along the campus, heading for the woods. "No wait." She held out her arm to stop me.

"What's wrong?"

"I'm sure Ulrich is out there," Yumi murmured.

Only a few people really knew that when Ulrich needed to sulk alone, he was off in the forest. "He won't be where we're heading, I promise."

She looked hesitant, but still followed, and then began to talk. "All right, I'll tell you what happened. But don't tell the guys, got it?"

"Got it."

She took a deep breath and began.

**Yumi's P.O.V.**

_=Flashback=_

"_If you say one more word to Mom and Dad, Hiroki, I swear I'm gonna – Hiroki? Hello?" The line went dead. "Oh, you've got to be kidding me. Hiroki!" I snapped my phone shut. "Ugh, what a dork!"_

"_Well he _is_ related to you, so . . . he can't be all that bad."_

_I spun around, and grimaced. William had followed me. Again._

"_Yeah, right. Save your breath, handsome." I made a move to turn around and keep walking. He reached out and grabbed my arm._

"_I'd rather not, especially when you think I look good," he stepped closer, "Beautiful."_

_I immediately yanked my arm free and smirked. "Nice try Romeo."_

"_And I'll keep trying." William was dead serious._

_Unbelievable! I thought I'd ditched the creep long ago, but no, he had to track me down. "I'm serious, and I told you not to follow me home, William," I snapped turning away._

"_Yeah, and leaving me on a bus traveling only two streets down is a full-proof plan, huh?"_

_I froze. Damn it. "Yeah, well what does it matter? I want you gone, so leave!" Even to myself, I sounded kinda bitchy. But William just wouldn't leave me alone, and it really got old quickly._

"_Why leave, this is such a nice walk we're taking, don't you think?" He strolled along beside me, shoving his hands in his pockets._

"_I wouldn't exactly call this romantic, would you?"_

_He laughed. "Whoa, who said anything about romance?"_

"_You did, when you posted those love letters around your old school, remember?"_

"_It was for a good cause!"_

"_Yeah right," I scoffed. The gate to my house swung open easily. I quickly slammed it shut, while William's face turned from flirty to insulted behind the bars._

"_Why can't you trust me?"_

_Here it was. The question that I wouldn't answer. Because he couldn't handle it. As much as he annoyed me, the serious look on his face almost did make me feel guilty. I didn't say anything, and turned around, stepping inside._

_Math, stupid math. And history. I tapped my pen against the my desk. Photos of the gang and I were tucked away where they'd stay safe. I had a picture of William. He's signed it and gave it to me last fall, claiming I'd never forget him if I kept it. Now I just shuddered at the cheesiness._

"_Yumi, will you help me out in here?!" Mom called from the kitchen. I sighed. Chores weren't fun, but then again, neither were 3 page papers. I trudged slowly out of my room. The sound of glass breaking was heard and Mom swore under her breath. Hiroki began to laugh. "Please, Hiroki not now," she begged, taking the seafood out with one hand and grabbing the phone with the other._

"_Wait, what if Ulrich tries to call!" he exclaimed. "Oh Ulrich I _love_ you!"_

"_Beat it," I snapped, "and don't even think about telling him anything!"_

_He raced away like the idiot he was, while I began to make some spicy tuna rolls. _What is it with him and Ulrich lately? Is love in the air, or what? _I smirked again. _Milly. _Mom still on the phone listening, only adding in a few "Mmm hmm's". "Hey, Mom, I thought you were going to help. Who are you talking to?"_

"_Just a minute," she whispered, sweeping the glass up with the phone tucked under her ear._

"_Come on, I have work to do," I complained, setting the spicy rolls back down. "Can't this wait?"_

_She shot me a surprised look, and I knew I was starting to go too far. Quietly, I kept on preparing dinner, nearly done when she hung up with a tear falling down her cheek. I stopped. "Mom?"_

_She sunk into a chair and closed her eyes. I dropped the roll and put a hand on her shoulder. "Hey Mom, what's wrong?" Now she was clutching her head._

"_Oh it's nothing," Mom mumbled. "Your father's just going to be late, that's all."_

_My stomach dropped at the sound of being late. Again. Now I felt bad for yelling before. "He'll be here," I said._

_Mom swallowed and stood, heading towards the spicy tuna rolls. "I hope so." She sounded so shaky as she tried to smile. But even she knew that I was clearly not convinced._

"_Mom." I grabbed her hand. "He'll be here."_

"_Yumi – "_

"_He will," I urged. _Be brave Mom, don't pretend.

_She tried to smile again and answered with, "I suppose you're right, dear."_

_I let go. "Don't worry." Her sleeves were rolled back up again, and soon we finished with lunch._

_Dad didn't come. It was past dinner and Hiroki and I were waiting up in my room. The sound of Mom pacing was driving me crazy. _Where are you, Dad? Come home already . . .

_Hiroki's new DS lay forgotten on the floor, and I actually wished he'd make some noise with it. Instead, he yawned. "Hey, sis?"_

"_Yeah?"_

"_Why's Dad never home for dinner? I don't see him until morning."_

_I swallowed a lump in my throat. "He's busy, that's all."_

"_With work?" He scooted closer._

"_Yes, with work. His trip got delayed and instead of coming back last night, he was scheduled to arrive this morning."_

"_He works really hard then, huh?"_

_I nodded. "Until Mom finds a job, he's supporting us alone. We have to be grateful for it."_

"_But I miss him."_

_Hiroki was too innocent. I wasn't. No, I was constantly saving the world from Xana. But now I had to be even stronger to keep my family together. So I wrapped an arm around him. "We all do, but he loves us and we love him. That's all that matters."_

"_Ok." I blinked hard to stop the tears forming in my eyes. I refused to cry for anyone. Not even my brother._

_He looked up and realized what position we were in. "Yuck!"_

_I sniffed, then laughed as he threw my elbow off of his shoulder. "Give me a break already!"_

"_Save that mushy stuff for your _boyfriend!"

"_For the hundredth millionth time Hiroki, I'm not going to ask Ulrich out!"_

"_That's cool, he can ask you out instead."_

"_Yeah, like that's going to happen." I rolled my eyes._

_He shrugged. "Well then ask him now."_

"_What do you mean?" I eyed my cell phone. "You want me to just call him and ask?"_

"_No, I mean look outside. Over there."_

_A semi-tall, green figure with brown hair was pacing back in forth with his head down, muttering. He reminded me of my Mom by how she was acting. I knew right away who it was._

"_Ulrich?" I whispered._

_He paused._

"_Ulrich!"_

_Now he whipped around. "Oh, uh – Yumi!"_

"_What are you doing here?" Hiroki began to giggle from behind me. "Get outta here, right now," I hissed at him._

"_What about Dad?"_

"_Just give me a minute, then we'll talk to Mom, ok?"_

"_Right. Wait – " He ran to the window. "YUMI LOVES YOU! SHE LOVES – ouch!" Hiroki scampered away._

_Ulrich walked closer. "What was that all about?"_

_I shook my red palm. "Nothing, you know how siblings are."_

"_Actually I don't. Ask Odd."_

_I smiled. "Odd? The youngest of six?"_

"_Oh right." He grinned. "Bad luck with all his older sisters messing with him."_

"_Actually I'd take his place any day. He'd love a little brother and a few sisters doesn't seem too bad."_

"_Well being an only child means parents on your case all day." I grimaced at the parents part. If Ulrich noticed, he didn't say anything._

_Leaning against the open window, I spoke up again. "I take it you're not here to talk about siblings are you?"_

"_Well, uh, no actually I . . . "_

"_You what?"_

"_I wanted to ask you something, about William."_

_Great. "William?"_

"_Yeah, well you and I are just good friends right?"_

_Oh crap. "What do you think?"_

"_Yeah, I mean, yeah of course we are."_

_What is he doing? Ulrich, don't make this any harder. Please. This wasn't going to be the moment where he reveals his feelings. He never did and I stopped wondering if he ever will. Yeah it hurts, but that's why I told him that we were only friends now._

"_Well, I know what you said. It's just that – "'_

"_Hey Yumi, you there?"_

_My eyes darted away from outside my window to the view of my front gate. William was back._

"_No," I hissed under my breath._

"_Yumi?" Ulrich stepped forward again and then looked around. "Something wrong?"_

"_Uhh . . ."_

"_Yumi!" William called again._

"_Yumi, there's another boy outside!" Hiroki stood in my doorway._

_Yes, Hiroki! "I know. Listen do me a favor, ok?"_

_He crossed his arms. "What kind of favor?"_

"_I – " I rushed to turn off my phone since William had just pulled his out. " – I need you to go outside and tell the guy that I'm asleep and I'll see him tomorrow."_

"_Hmm, and why should I do that?" He demanded._

"_Because if Milly were here I'd do the same!"_

"_If Milly were here I wouldn't want her to leave."_

_Perfect. "Really? Well since I'll see her first thing tomorrow I can tell her – "_

"_Ok, ok I'm going! You fight dirty sis . . ."_

"_Yumi what is going on?"_

_I rushed back to my window._

"_Ulrich! Sorry, just something I had to take care of."_

"_Well, what I wanted to say was that, uh . . ."_

"_Yumi?" William walked closer to me and even closer to Ulrich. "I thought you were asleep."_

"_She is!" yelled Hiroki._

_William shot him an 'I'm not an idiot' glare. "She's right there!"_

"_William," Ulrich said with clenched teeth._

"_Ulrich," he spat back._

_Hiroki angrily studied William. "Yumi I don't like this guy. Hold on, I'll get Mom . . ."_

"_Hiroki no!" I shouted. Too late, he ran back inside. Groaning, I shoved on a sweater and sped downstairs, stopping to put on my shoes. In less than a minute, they were fighting. Ulrich deflected a punch sent by William and sent a swipe of his own. William grabbed him by the arm and pinned him against the ground._

"_Stop!" I screamed. "You're hurting him!"_

_Ulrich struggled until William released his grip to look at me. In those seconds, Ulrich leapt up with an angry cry. He kicked William's feet out from under him. I yanked him back._

"_Get a grip Ulrich!"_

"_No! He doesn't deserve it."_

"_And you don't deserve Yumi!" William shouted, still half-laying down. "Why do you think she said she only wants to be friends anyways?"_

_My teeth ground together._

"_Because she doesn't care about you!"_

_Ulrich couldn't take William's taunting, and sprung forward again. I screamed out. They punched, blocked, and all I could do was grab their arms and force them to stop._

"_Oh my – Yumi?!"_

_Mom._

_Ulrich clipped William in the shoulder just as he took a blow to the chin. I yanked back William's arm._

"_What is going on? Both of you boys stop," she ordered._

_Ulrich let go off William's torn shirt, and was then shoved back roughly by him. I slowly released my grip, too._

"_No one should ever fight, not even over my daughter," she said sternly._

"_Mom, Yumi should just – " Hiroki began, but was shushed._

"_You don't understand," I began._

_William talked. "Listen, this is all just pointless. Yumi please, just say yes," he pleaded._

How could he even say that?! _"No, I can't, I – "_

"_What is all this?"_

_Everyone froze. One by one, each of us turned. Dad had come home._

"_Answer me. Yumi?"_

"_I don't need this," William muttered, making a move to leave._

"_Now listen young man, I want a reason for why you and Ulrich were fighting!"_

_I bit my nails nervously. "Wait Dad, just let them go. We can talk about it."_

_William quickly left after that. Ulrich tried to catch my eye, but I refused to look at him. Mom stood motionless in the doorway. Hiroki was behind her. Ulrich sighed and headed for the gate. Dad immediately stopped him. "Now hold it right there. I may not know this other boy, but you I'm familiar with. Now I want you to tell me what happened."_

_There wasn't any way out, was there? Ulrich and William may have pissed me off, but anything was better than facing my dad when he was serious. "Uh, well you see sir, I um, had to tell Yumi something."_

"_Oh? And what would that something be?" Dad crossed his arms._

_Ulrich shuffled his feet. "Uh, it's just that, um . . . I had to remind her that – "_

"_He wanted to ask her out." All of us whipped our heads around to the doorway when he heard Hiroki quietly speak up. He didn't sound like he was teasing. That was his mistake._

"_Oh and what could you know about this Hiroki?" Dad demanded._

"_N-nothing. I mean, he was just standing outside the window and . . ." We both wished he'd just kept his mouth shut._

"_At this hour? If you think my daughter's going to sneak around with you, you are mistaken," snapped Dad._

_Ulrich didn't say anything._

"_Takeo come inside," Mom said. "Ulrich should go and Yumi will tell you the rest."_

_I wasn't off the hook. Neither was Ulrich. "And what about this other boy? He was here to see Yumi, too?"_

"_Takeo – " began Mom again._

"_No! I'm not going to come home to this and see two boys fighting on our property over my daughter! What kind of values have these parents taught?" I nearly gasped. _Oh, no Dad. Don't even think about going there. Please.

_Mom narrowed her eyes. "Maybe if you came home earlier you wouldn't have to. Have you ever thought about that?"_

_Dad turned his back on Ulrich. "You enjoy seeing this? Yumi could've easily been hurting holding the two back like that. If you think that her hanging around with these sneaky friends who create fistfights and weren't brought up to deal with things properly is a good idea – "_

"_Sir . . ." Ulrich had an edge to his voice._

"_Don't lecture me! You're the one suffering from a lack of trust," Mom defended herself._

_Dad scoffed. Mom had to bring this up again. "I suffer from a lack of trust? You seem intent on hunting down Kyoko-san, my business partner."_

"_You didn't come home all night and she was the last one you were with!"_

"_It was an overnight trip back!"_

"_I can't believe this," I mumbled and touched my forehead._

"_What's more, if you're the one at home, then you should make sure our children are safe and away from these things at 10:30 at night! Honestly, what must his parents think?!"_

"_Better than you do!"_

_Hiroki burst into tears and fled to his room._

_I sighed and blinked hard. Mom and Dad were distraught, but continued arguing, this time in rapid Japanese. The damage was done. Ulrich grit his teeth together and stalked over to the gate._

"_Ulrich wait!" I called. He ignored me and raced down the street._

_I dropped my hand, really upset with this whole thing. Dad entered into the house, muttering under his breath._

_Mom was left standing there. "Come on inside Yumi." She sounded so drained._

_I stared down the road. "No, I – I have to find Ulrich."_

"_Yumi this really isn't the time, you heard me. Talk to your friend tomorrow."_

_I spun around, pleading. "No Mom you don't understand. I can't do this, not tonight."_

"_Yumi!" It was too late; I was running. The streetlights were pretty bright, but I couldn't see Ulrich. _He couldn't have gone that far, could he? _It doesn't matter. I have to find him and quick. I pulled up a map in my mind of all the streets I knew by heart. _Let's see, he wouldn't go East, that's where all the businesses are. But if he took the main road he'd be back at Kadic in less than 15 minutes . . . _I wanted to find him before we had a repeat of his sulking, disappearing episode. I hate seeing him like this, it jeopardizes Lyoko missions, and I need to set the record straight._

_Eventually I did have to stop running. Only because I'd gone much further than I realized. "Oh crap," I muttered. "And I don't even have my phone to check the time." I kicked a soda can in my path angrily._

"_Hey watch it miss!" A man snapped. He stepped away from it like it was poison._

"_Huh? Oh, sorry." Embarrassed, I reached down to pick it up._

_He waved his hand. "Yeah, yeah go throw it out over there." There was an ice cream cart less than a block away. My eyes widened. Ulrich! He was waiting in line with his hands stuck in his pockets. And everyone around was a bit concerned about how angry he was._

_I slowed down when I approached him. He was about to order when he saw me. "Forget it." He stuffed the coins back in his jacket and stepped away. "What do you want?"_

_I didn't hesitate. "You know why."_

"_Yeah right, and by the way thanks for standing up for me." Ulrich's sarcasm was familiar. He brushed past me and kept on walking._

"_Not so fast." I grabbed his shoulder. "I didn't exactly expect for you to see that so don't blame me."_

_He just shrugged my hand off and didn't turn around._

"_Look I'm sorry about my Dad, ok?" I said to his back. "I didn't know what else to do. He didn't know what he was talking about and it's not true – "_

"_He was being such a hypocrite. Family values? I'm getting that when he doesn't know a damn thing about my parents."_

No, but you know plenty about mine now. _"In case you noticed, I don't have it peachy either."_

"_Your family's here. Go home to _them."

"_No, I came to look for you. And to ask why you wanted to see me."_

_He finally faced me. "Didn't I get enough of this already?"_

"_I'm serious Ulrich."_

"_Forget it. William was there, too."_

"_No, you forget about William. I want an explanation." I crossed my arms._

"_Well I'm sure not forgetting about what I heard about me being taught no values. What do I owe you?"_

_I didn't say anything._

"_Exactly. So just go away and leave me alone. I don't need you or your family dragging me down anymore."_

_It has nothing to do with me liking him! I don't . . . we're just good friends. Of course you'd get upset if you fought with a best friend. I was just upset that he was there to witness my broken family life. It was something I hid and dealt with. And now everything's ruined._

_With a sigh, I climbed through my open window and quickly changed for bed that same minute. My phone was free of messages; it was almost 10:00. I suddenly felt tired even though it wasn't super late. _I'd kill for one nice, long, night sleep. _I poked my head out of my door, but opened it and silently crept down the hall. First to check on Hiroki. He was asleep, thank God, clutching his giant stuffed frog. I remembered how he was crying earlier and instantly felt horrible. My teasing, bratty little brother was taking this worse than I was._

_Mom and Dad's door was open, and only a small light came from inside. The house was so eerily quiet. I peered inside my parents' room. Dad was sitting at the edge of the bed, alone, staring at the floor. I ducked away and headed for the stairs. _So everyone's alone then. I guess it's for the best tonight. _I found Mom sitting on the couch with a book. She wasn't reading it. Like Dad, she was staring off, lost in her own thoughts._

"_Mom," I called as quietly as I could. She was only a bit surprised. "I'm going to bed."_

_She nodded and cracked a teary grin. "Ok dear."_

_I couldn't go to her. So I felt myself nod and then left._

_Sleep didn't come easy. I hated the fact that my dad wasn't the only hypocrite. Apparently I was. I hated fighting in front of others and what did I do? What my parents do. Still only Hiroki and I knew the inside story about them. Naturally I'd defend them. Even against Ulrich._

_I scrubbed the tears away from my eyes._

_Damn you, Ulrich._

**Aelita's P.O.V.**

"And that's it."

"Yumi I'm so sorry." So much revealed. "If I'd known sooner, I – I swear I would've done something."

"No, no, it's fine."

"It's not fine," I insisted. "You don't deserve any of this."

"William just makes things harder, but the last thing I wanted was for Ulrich to know."

What else was there to say? Nothing, really. I reached out to give her a supportive hug, but she turned around, heading back towards the campus, shoulders slumped in defeat. "I'll see you later. Don't tell the others." She needed time to be alone. I pushed aside the helpless feeling, knowing that I couldn't help her now.

Alone and standing in the middle of the forest, the wind began to pick up. I wrapped my arms around myself and shivered. Suddenly, Daddy seemed so far away. Family was more complicated then I imagined. It struck me that Yumi was drained from having to be the responsible one all the time. It was something I wasn't used to at all.


	8. Chapter 7 Divide

**Chapter Seven**

**Aelita's P.O.V.**

I stopped by Jeremie's dorm after I'd made my way back from the woods. He still deserved to know about how Daddy's getting stronger. But he wasn't there. I was surprised; he was always either sleeping on his computer or working. Normally, I would've been disappointed that we didn't walk to breakfast like we used to. Then again, I hadn't exactly been feeling normal lately.

It had occurred to me a while ago that I didn't need Jeremie to help me anymore. After all, I'd been living on Earth for over a year and I was becoming my own person. Supposedly, I'll be 15 soon. My "birthday" was really the day that Jeremie discovered the Supercomputer, as opposed to the day I was materialized. What should I do this year anyways?

Ulrich wasn't at breakfast, but Odd and Jeremie were. They both were talking instead of yelling. I smiled, glad to see that they seemed to be doing better. Now if only it were the same for me.

Yumi usually joined us for lunch and dinner on school days, but I knew she wouldn't today.

As I passed by Sissi, she gave me a strange smirk. Her eyes turned small and her mouth huge. Determined not to let her get the better of me, I said, "What's wrong Sissi? Did you pass by a mirror?" Nicholas laughed louder than necessary, and Herve of course tried his best not to.

"Yeah and I saw you!" she shouted. I walked away rolling my eyes. She can't think of a good comeback.

I got my food and hurried to our table.

Jeremie's face lit up when he saw me. "Hey Aelita!"

"Hi Jeremie." I sat beside him, making his grin even larger. I didn't have the heart to look at Odd, or tell him what happened last night with Jeremie and his flowers.

"You feeling better?"

I cast him a strange look. "Feeling better about what?" I dared him to continue.

"Uh, yesterday."

"I'm fine," I replied shortly, picking at my eggs.

"Want your croissant Aelita?" Odd asked curiously through a mouthful of bacon.

"As a matter of fact, I do." I held it close to me, an eyebrow raised.

"Geez, touchy," a shocked Odd responded and continued eating. The corners of my lips tugged up.

Jeremie offered to get me some hot chocolate. In spite of myself, I grinned. "Actually, I'd like that, thanks Jeremie."

He hastily ran to the machine outside. I sighed and turned to Odd, who'd stopped eating. "Are you afraid you're going to choke?" I teased.

He shook his head. "So what's new with you?"

_I don't know how to deal with my feelings for you and Jeremie. You'd never think of me that way, especially with that redhead who just walked by and smiled at you. And I can't think of Jeremie that way anymore, it's impossible. Yumi and Ulrich are doing no better. My father's still out there, but I'm scared that he'll be killed. I'm way behind on helping with getting us into the Internet to fight Xana. I feel helpless, useless._

Taking another deep breath, I said, "Nothing really." I bit into my croissant and looked down.

"Really? Nothing at all. That's a first," Odd remarked, his eyes returning to me. "No worries Princess, I'm still teaching you how to skate."

"Oh I haven't forgotten," I assured him.

Jeremie returned, holding a steaming cup. "Here Aelita."

Quietly, I replied, "Thanks."

He gave me a tentative smile. "I remembered how much you told me you like it."

A pang of guilt swept over me, and tears nearly formed as I sipped. Things used to be so simple.

Before I could even realize what I was saying, the words came out. "Jeremie, do – do you need help tonight with the supercomputer?"

"Huh?" He paused, then brightened. "Uh, sure Aelita! I was thinking that we could crack those codes for deciphering the bug on the files for your materialization and life points that Xana infected and then work on getting you into the Internet –"

"I'll help . . . on one condition," I cut him off.

Jeremie stopped again. "Oh, what's that?"

Dead serious, I said, "We look for my father first."

"Now you see Einstein, Aelita knows how to bargain!" Odd exclaimed. I didn't look at him, instead staring intently at Jeremie, hoping to convince him. Please, help me with this.

"Aelita, that's crazy . . ." he trailed off.

"Is it really? We found a fragment of his DNA. Please Jeremie. It – it would mean the world to me if we brought him back some day." A tear formed, but I brushed it away before anyone could react.

"Well, all right." He agreed and smiled.

I finally stole a glance at Odd. He wasn't smiling the goofy grin I was used to. It was a smile of pity. He pitied me. For helping Jeremie when it makes me unhappy to stay up so late and feel chained in, not able to be free. No matter how mad I get at him, I'll always feel like I owe Jeremie. And Odd clearly doesn't get that.

"What are you doing tonight Odd?" Jeremie asked, but I couldn't tell if he was genuinely curious or not.

He turned to me, then quickly looked away to the redhead a few tables down. "Well here's what I'm gonna do now." He yanked out a slip of paper from inside his shirt.

My eyes widened. "Odd where did you – "

"I'm gonna get Karen's number in one move!"

"One move?" Jeremie asked, sounded more curious now. "But how?"

"Easy, no one can resit the charms of Odd Della Robbia! Until the right girl comes around, everyone is an option right?"

Jeremie chuckled. "Sure Odd."

"You just watch!" Odd strolled casually to Karen's table.

It shouldn't have hurt, but it did. It should've just annoyed me, but it didn't. I stood abruptly. "I'll see you tonight Jeremie."

"Ok Aelita. Wait where are you going?"

"Studying –" I called over my shoulder. I heard the lie escape, and felt bad. It didn't get any better when I saw Odd flirting with Karen. What is it with him? He can't like me, not with all those other girls out there.

I shook my head as I left to go to my room. Now that the wind died down, the sun was perfectly warm. The bench that Odd and I sat at the other day came into sight. I have a little while before class starts.

I need to stop feeling sorry for myself. I wanted to just forget everything and live for a moment.

With that mind, I sat down and pulled out a red notebook adorned with stickers in the right corner. It didn't need to be labeled for me to know what it was. My songbook. Inside weren't lyrics, but sheet music. Being a DJ meant more to me than most people realized. Making music is my passion, and with so much going on, the last time I'd written a song was over a month ago.

Smiling faintly, I pulled out a pencil and began to write.

I closed the book with a satisfying thud. Three minutes before class started and I had everal pages complete with a couple new songs. I know who the first person would be to want to hear them . . . No. I shook my head rapidly. Look at all the work you got done. I'm sure they'll let you mix this for the next dance. Maybe even go into town . . . A large smile crossed my face before a shadow passed over me.

"Well Miss Einstein, it looks as if I was right. You can't go a single day minute without your face in a textbook." Sissi crossed her arms and laughed.

I raised my eyebrow, but didn't stand up yet. Well I've had worse haven't I?

"But Sissi, yesterday you said she couldn't go a single minute without one of those boys by her -" Nicolas began to protest feebly.

"Zip it up right now you dork!" she snapped.

"I don't think that's a textbook Sissi . . ." Herve added, then immediately shrunk away.

I got to my feet, clutching my notebook to my chest. "Well, it looks like he's right. There's one of my boys."

"Oh please, he's not even - oh, Ulrich dear!" I giggled when I noticed Ulrich instinctively flinch at her voice raising an octave.

"Hey Aelita, problem here?" he inquired to me.

"No, not at all, Sissi was just pointing out how much I study," I replied brightly.

"Why don't you borrow her pencil there and take a few notes Sissi?" Ulrich challenged.

Sissi stopped short. "What's that supposed to mean, huh?"

"It means you could learn a lot about what it takes to be smart, or my friend," he retorted.

Nicolas didn't say anything, though Herve balled up his fists. Even for Ulrich, this comeback was a bit harsh. So I quickly grabbed him by the elbow.

"Come on, let's get out of here. We have Ms. Meyer's class to get to."

He shoved his hands in his pockets, but followed me as Sissi screamed something unintelligable after us. When we were out of earshot, I said casually, "Thanks Ulrich. But you know I could've handled Sissi on my own back there."

"Yeah, well, she makes everyone's day a bummer. Besides, you still need saving sometimes Princess." He cracked a smile, but it disappeared as quickly as it showed up.

Jeremie and Odd were waiting outside the door as students flooded in. Ms. Meyer eyed us warily, since we often ended up late to her class even more often than leaving in the middle of it. She seemed convinced that we would bolt and run the moment everyone else was inside. "We can't help it that Xana misses us most mornings! He likes to start his day with a little Odd action!" Odd had said to us tactfully.

"You're here early," I commented at Jeremie.

"I know, can you believe that? Odd needed to get as far away from the cafeteria as possible," he explained, sparing him a glance.

"Really?" I tipped my head to the side. "That doesn't sound right."

"Yeah well, things didn't go so well with Karen . . . " he trailed off when Odd growled under his breath.

"What happened, did you get slapped by number 82?" Ulrich questioned and elbowed him,

"82?" Jeremie and I both exclaimed. I felt his eyes on me, surprised at my outburst. My knees felt weak. _82 . . ._

Odd ignored us. "No, she was not number 82, and no she didn't slap me," he insisted.

"Ok, so what? Did she have a boyfriend?"

"Uhhh . . . " Odd's whine quieted when he saw me looking sick. "Yeah, she had a boyfriend. Christopher M'Ballack."

"Ouch, now that has got to hurt. Don't worry good buddy, the day's not over yet." Ulrich slapped his shoulder good naturedly.

"Excuse me you four, but if you're not going to come in, sit down, and pay attention, then I suggest you continue this conversation in Mr. Delmas's office," snapped Ms. Meyer.

Wordlessly, we shuffled inside. Since Jeremie and Odd were the first in, I briefly expected Ulrich to sit with me. Instead, he avoided my chair and sat further away beside Odd.

I frowned. _I wonder if he knows that I talked to Yumi?_ Odd didn't look at me either, leaving Jeremie sitting beside me. oblivious. I tucked my notebook under my math papers and sighed. My brightened mood from before was quickly fading. Jeremie, Odd, and me. Ulrich and Yumi. _We have our secrets, but we keep them from everyone else, not from . . . not from each other. _

Ms. Meyer went on to explain the quadratic formula in great detail. I loosely took notes, while Jeremie nodded along. He was even better at this class than me. Ulrich scribbled furiously to keep up with her, but Odd's arm made longer, slower strokes, leading me to believe he was drawing something.

Beep beep beep beep. Jeremie reached into his bag to silence his laptop. "An alert?" I whispered.

"No, it's the program I ran last night," he replied as he opened it discreetly.

"Which one?" My father?

"I'm decoding a few left over files on Franz Hopper's research into the Internet. Xana can't hide forever."

I faced the board once more._ Jeremie . . . you almost said what I wanted to hear._ I reached across the table for my pen again when I nearly knocked over a folded note. I opened it carefully and grinned. Odd had sketched the two of us skateboarding above what appeared to be a terrified Ms. Meyer. When I got over the initial stiftened laugh of her horrifed, exaggerated expression, I couldn't help but notice something. While Odd seemed to have drawn himself a bit more lazily, not paying as great attention to how spiked his hair was or even making himself appear grand and tall as he usually did, I was much more detailed carefully. I flipped it over before anyone could see. Tapping my pen against my chin, I thought about what to write back.

"Hey Aelita, I found something!" Jeremie shut his laptop, eyes shining. "There's still not a way I've been directly able to track Xana's next move, but a trace is showing all the places he's been. We could go to the factory after our classes and figure out the pattern." He swallowed. "If, if you still want to that is."

I had to admit, I was touched that he asked. You're a person, Aelita, not a toy. "I'm going to drop off my music to Mr. Dubois and Mr. Chardin first, but after that I'll be there," I said.

"Great, you're the best Aelita." Jeremie smiled.

When class was over, I lifted my bag. One by one, I placed my items inside. First my laptop, second my notebook, third my math papers, and lastly Odd's note.

**Kind of short, sorry about that. Had to make myself write a bit more, the chapters being posted had been written messily ages ago. Just ironing out the kinks :)**


	9. Chapter 8 Supposed to

**Chapter Eight**

**Aelita's P.O.V.**

"Five . . . four . . ." began Yumi. Her pair of fans flew overhead.

"Three . . . two . . . one . . ." Odd was next, shooting rapidly for each number.

A final crab stood in my way of the tower. The second it shot, I leapt into the air, charging an energy field. Dodging it's laser, I released, and watched the pink glow destroy it. I turned my jump into a flip and landed on my feet. "Zero!" I finished.

Yumi offered a thumbs up. "Nice one Aelita." I smiled, glad that my fighting skills were improving. You could learn a lot when you spent so long watching friends protect you.

"Good job. But hurry up, Ulrich's in danger!" Jeremie said.

"When was the last time you heard from him?" I asked, glancing up to the sky in worry. Last we'd heard of Ulrich, he was fighting off a possessed Suzanne Hertz near the school.

"A few minutes ago, he called to say he was in the woods, so move it!" Jeremie ordered.

Odd had a disbelieving look, and scratched the back of his head. "Right, anyone up for a 500 meter dash?"

He noticed me smile, and added, "Lyoko style, of course."

Jeremie snorted. "Hold on, I'm materializing your vehicles."

Yumi stood off to the side. I'd known her long enough to know when something was bugging her, and right now, it could only be one thing. "Still fighting?" I questioned quietly.

She nodded.

"Don't worry, we're almost there, he'll be fine," I assured her, placing my hand on her shoulder. Xana was ruthless but I believed in Ulrich. Always tough, and a skilled fighter.

She whispered, and I didn't know if I was supposed to hear, "That's not what I'm worried about." That sounds familiar. I was about to ask what she meant when she jumped onto her Overwing. "Come on, we've got a tower to deactivate!"

Odd flipped onto his Overboard and waved his hand, motioning to me. "Hop on!" I did, holding on tightly as we sped off.

There wasn't too much conversation today, so I kept my full focus on the tower, which was in sight now. But then a faint buzzing sound filled my ears. "Hornets!"

"There's a swarm, six of them, be careful!" warned Jeremie.

"Oh - ouch!" Odd lifted his tail. "Hey that thing really stings today!"

"The lasers are still hurting for real?" Nothing had changed since last time. Carefully, I looked at the hornets, who fired another green laser, just before switching to red again. "What is going on?"

"Again?" Jeremie sounded confused. "Hold on, I'll run a scan to check."

Yumi threw a fan, destroying one hornet, but continued to doge their blows. Odd however, kept playing risky. "Take that you fake Swarmmeister!" He fired, killing another hornet.

I cocked my head. "Swarmmeister?"

"Yeah, these guys are like cheap knockoff versions of the Swarmmeister in Spacial Warriors 2."

I released my grip on his waist to throw an energy field at the hornet. It missed, but they shot a red laser, knocking me off the Overboard. Skidding a few feet, I cried out until I crashed into a boulder.

The mountain sector was almost too perfect for Hornets. Groggily, I lifted myself up, realizing that the tower was only a few meters away (A/N American writer using the Metric system again . . . they are in France after all). More firing.

"Aelita!" Odd yelled, bouncing down to me. "You all right?"

I gasped. A green laser was on it's way. "Odd, watch out!"

He turned. "Huh?"

I sprinted in front, blocking him from the laser with two energy fields as a shield, and then shot both, destroying two more hornets. "Wow," Odd commented. I faced him again. "Thanks Aelita."

Grinning, I replied, "Anytime," and took off running for the tower. Yumi pulled up beside me. "Go on, I'll hold off the last two!" I continued to run. Almost there . . .

"Odd, no!" Yumi shouted. I kept on running, but turned my head.

"Odd, one more hit and it's game over!" Jeremie could barley finish as Odd got rid of another hornet.

But just as he took a chance by jumping off his board to defeat the last one, another green laser devertualized him. The sight of his pixilated body and virtual skeleton disappearing was the last image I saw before entering the tower.

As I rose to the second platform, I hoped that it wasn't to late for Ulrich, and knew to hurry also because Yumi could just as easily be shot by another stinging laser and experience the real pain that Odd and I had felt. Soon I pressed my hand against the screen and deactivated the tower, with some of the worry vanishing. But I still had to ask, "Jeremie, how's Ulrich?"

"Here I am," a deep voice responded.

In spite of their argument, Yumi still spoke his name with relief in her voice. "Ulrich . . . how's Mrs. Hertz?"

"Uh, to be honest, not so good."

"So, does this call for a return to the past?" asked Odd, back in the lab with the others. He sounded tired.

"No, I need to make adjustments to 'that' file also." Jeremie sounded a bit strained. Is it really that bad? How are we going to explain this?

"Ok, how about bringing us in?" suggested Yumi, as I left the tower to return outside.

"Right, hold on. Just give me a second to help Ulrich with Mrs. Hertz."

"Of course. Einstein here just loves to work out his muscles by carrying his teachers around," Odd teased.

"Very funny," muttered Jeremie.

"Come and help us work out while you're at it." Ulrich added. Jeremie laughed.

I smiled. It seemed as if slowly, but surely, Jeremie and Odd had stopped arguing. Maybe this whole thing would be over soon.

"Aelita look!" Yumi panicked and pointed.

The Scyphozoa had arrived. It wasn't to late for me to destroy the mountain sector. I backed away, creating two energy fields in my hands. Yumi hurried back to the Overwing and flew. My eyes widened as it reached out. I gasped and ran away from the monster right as Yumi pulled over to me. "Come on Aelita!"

I raced along beside her, throwing the energy fields at the Scyphozoa and then hopped on with Yumi.

Dodging my blows, it continued slinking forward. It was fast; the Overwing was faster. Will that be enough? Just as I though we may escape, the last hornet appeared. "Jeremie! Help us already!" shrieked Yumi, yanking out a fan. "Things are getting -" she swung her wrist left to stop a laser " - way out of hand!"

She shielded us, and I threw another energy field. The Scyphozoa still didn't stop, even as we were darting ahead in the air. The tips of it's clear tentacles glowed green again. My heart raced. "Jeremie!" I screamed.

"Hold on, I'll bring you both in!" he hastily returned. The hornet fired. Yumi had been so focused on escaping the Scyphozoa that she didn't see the green laser aimed at her. My eyes widened.

"No!" Pushing Yumi aside and taking the hit devirtualized me immediately. The sickening feeling of returning was present as I appeared again on Earth. Soon the feeling dissipated, with exhaustion taking its place.

"Aelita!" Jeremie was the third one to call my name that day. "Are you all right?"

"I could be better," I admitted, holding my stomach while the scanner doors opened. "But it's not that bad."

Odd and Ulrich exited the elevator. "Don't sweat Einstein, Aelita's the toughest chick out there. Princess Peach's got nothing on her!" Odd said cheekily, putting an arm around me. I blushed and ducked my head.

"Did Yumi get devirtualized too?" I asked.

The scanner beside mine opened, and an exhausted Yumi stepped out. "I sure did. You were right." She clutched her head. "That really does hurt."

"Sorry I couldn't bring you in guys. The file for it's been acting really weird." Jeremie apologized.

Ulrich eyed Yumi, who was rubbing her head in pain. "And you couldn't have figured this out sooner?" he demanded. "What if it's a big problem, huh?"

Angry, Yumi whipped around. "Chill, ok Ulrich? It's not his fault."

"Don't tell me you like getting hurt -"

"I never said that!"

"Whoa!" They stopped to turn around and see Odd. "No need to get messy Romeo and Juliet! And I thought Sissi was bad!"

"Shut up Odd," they snapped.

"Look everyone just stop," I stepped in between Yumi and Ulrich and sent a meaningful look Odd's way. "We have bigger problems to worry about."

Jeremie spoke up. "She's right, so get on up here. I'll explain everything."

Click. Click. Click. The sound of Jeremie's fingers typing made everything else seem dead silent. Ulrich and Yumi stood far apart. Ulrich had his hands shoved in his pockets, and Yumi's arms were crossed. They leaned against opposite walls, looking at everything but each other. I sighed and ran a hand through my hair, already feeling tired. I'd decided to sit next to Odd near the elevator. He has his DS on mute, and I could barley hear the sound of him pushing the buttons. I tried to read instead, glancing up every so often.

Yes, part of me felt guilty for not offering to help Jeremie. I felt bad for using exhaustion as an excuse, but the last Lyoko trip was the worst. It really does take a lot of energy out of you, and going back in immediately is like suicide. We've learned to wait a good 12 hours. My arm and stomach - places where was hit - were still a little sore. The book was interesting enough, yet even with all the quiet, the tension made it too hard to read.

Why does everyone have to fight? I thought sadly. My eyes peered over to Odd once, twice, three times. The last time, I found him looking back. With a dramatic sigh, he flipped his DS shut and leaned against the wall. "Tick tock Jeremie," he whispered and jerked a thumb to the computer chair. "How long does this guy take?"

"Too long," I mumbled. He looked surprised at my answer. I didn't feel like explaining, so I changed the subject. "I'm guessing Ulrich's told you about his fight with Yumi and William, right? This is really awful, all of this. And the crazy part is that they shouldn't be arguing about the same thing over and over again."

"You said it," he agreed. "I'll never understand them . . . and plus, William isn't even a threat anymore. Not with Ulrich's recent charm and all." Odd smirked at his own sarcasm, but I knew deep down that he was just as serious as I was when it came to the matter of Ulrich and Yumi being together.

"Yumi's leaving for her trip on Saturday," I remembered. "They'd better fix all this before then, or I wouldn't call that a pleasant vacation for either of them." While winter break wasn't for another month, Yumi's family wasn't able to travel during Christmas time. Instead Yumi's father had taken time off to take his family to Japan now.

It seemed like a good plan. The rest of us would be here in case of Xana attacks and when Christmas did come around, she'd be home. I of course would be staying at school, but the two of us could keep an eye out for things. The only thing Yumi wasn't counting on was a massive fight with one of her closest friends, or a fight with her family for that matter.

"Aw, no way, I completely forgot," Odd groaned. "Yumi was supposed to help me study for that test in science!" He glared at the unconscious Mrs. Hertz.

"The one on atomic structure?"

"Yes!" he exclaimed.

"Shhh!"

Odd swiveled around to see Jeremie with a finger to his lips. He winced, then grinned (A/N insert goofball laugh here)

"Anyways," he lowered his voice again. "Yumi promised to help me study since she took this class last year and now she won't because of this. And with art class on hiatus, my grades are gonna drop faster than -"

"Your hair on a rainy day?" I teased.

"Haha, very funny," Odd muttered, burying his head in his arms. A wave pity and guilt rushed over me. Maybe I'd never had a problem with science grades, but Odd sure did. I reached out to put a hand on his shoulder. He jumped at my touch, then relaxed when he saw the compassion in my eyes.

"I can help you study if you want."

He perked up. "Really?"

"Sure."

"But didn't Einstein want your help with the supercomputer?"

"I helped him the other night. Stayed up until 3:00am," I explained quickly.

Odd's face broke out into another grin. "Oh, so that's why you looked like a zombie!"

My eyes widened. "What?" Was it really that noticeable? I couldn't have looked that bad, right?

"Don't worry, a pretty zombie!"

"I - uh." I froze. He really thought that? My face was turning red. Nervously, I glanced back up at Odd, who was also the color of an apple. Again.

"I mean . . . uh never mind." He eyed the book on my lap. "Hey what's this?"

Glad to be rid of the awkwardness (though the compliment was really sweet), I lifted it for him to see.

"You're reading about Canada?"

"Mmm hmm."

"Well why're you doing that?"

I gave him a look. "I'm supposed to be from there, remember?"

"Yeah, you're also supposed to be my cousin, but you'll never find a book on that. We both know you're from here!"

I sighed, placing the book back down and flipping through the pages. "Yeah, but still. It's nice to learn about the place people think I'm from. Pretending that cold doesn't bother me isn't enough."

Silence filled the air again as I brushed past history and studied modern culture. I could still feel Odd watching me.

He had once told me that there's always a certain look I get when I think of my past, when I miss the life of what I could've had. My eyes get hazy but I don't cry, and the smallest look of concentration appears. In return, I'd told Odd that his kindest look was one of caring empathy. As much as his goofball smile made me laugh, I think sometimes I prefer the gently, genuine smile that comes around once in awhile for only a few people he really cares about. So far, I'd only seen it maybe three times.

"Got it!" We both jerked back from our sudden closeness and stood.

"What is it?" I asked.

"I've accessed the file for your materialization programs, and found the virus attached. But - damn it!"

"What's wrong?" Ulrich came over.

"It's - it's completely bugged up! And of I don't fix it soon, it'll either lock down or just collapse as it becomes infected and . . ." Jeremie leaned back against his chair and took off his glasses. As he pinched the bridge of his nose in annoyance, Yumi joined us.

"How long will it take to fix it?" she inquired.

"Too long," complained Jeremie.

I gave Odd a glance at this even though doubt and confusion clouded his face as he took in the sight of the screen. "Wait hasn't this happened before?"

Yumi spoke again. "What do you mean?"

Odd shifted his gaze to the ceiling, trying to recall every detail. "Well, I don't need to be a history nerd to remember exactly, but it was the day we had ravioli for lunch when Rosa said -"

"Odd," Ulrich interrupted. "Sorry to end this fascinating rant but lunch details are a bit too much."

I remembered the day now. It hadn't been a particularly nice one, with the sudden return to the past by Ulrich and the fights after, but the pain on Lyoko was still there. Ulrich, much like Jim, probably didn't want to talk about it.

"We felt real pain on Lyoko," finished Odd.

"That didn't feel the same," Yumi disagreed. "It still hurt, but that was just a quick attack. We could barley fight like we usually did and the lasers weren't green."

"I didn't get hit then, so wouldn't know exactly," I added. "But this seems different. It's been happening for too long."

Jeremie typed again, opening up the history of recent programs. "I need to check a few things. Let's meet up here tomorrow."

"Right," Odd said. He lifted up Mrs. Hertz by one arm. "Time to saddle up. Back to your cage!"

Yumi seemed perplexed. "Cage? Really Odd?"

Odd waved a hand around. "Oh you know, the classroom of Hell she owns. Her cage." He smiled, though I couldn't figure out why a cage reminiscent of Hell was so funny.

Ulrich lifted Mrs. Hertz's other arm. "A science test in two days is the last things I need. Studying days in advance doesn't help with Xana still around."

Yumi lingered at getting her bags together. I frowned. She must be waiting for Ulrich to leave first.

When he didn't, she hurried to the elevator. "Oh my God, it's so late. Gotta run, I'll see you tomorrow."

Then she was gone. Quietly, I stroked the healing scratches on my knee. "What are you going to tell Yolanda about Mrs. Hertz?"

"Dunno yet. Any ideas Einstein?" asked Ulrich.

Jeremie stopped typing. "Uh . . . how about she overexterted herself. You could say she shocked herself with the lab equipment, or she hurt herself lifting all those life sized models."

Ulrich snorted. "Yeah or how about she got really tired of bossing us around too much."

I chuckled. "Why not?"

Odd shrugged. "Ah, it doesn't matter what we say. Yolanda'll believe anything." He tsked and shook his head. "That woman is so gullible."

I lifted an eyebrow. "Odd?"

"Yeah?"

"Spell gullible."

"Uh, G- U- L- E . . . A?"

The other brow rose.

"Hey Odd, did you know that the word gullible isn't in the dictionary?" Ulrich questioned.

Somewhat shocked, Odd whipped his head around. "Huh, it's not?"

I burst out laughing and Ulrich soon followed.

Odd glared. "Hey, this no time to laugh at my incredible intellectual abilities, ok guys?"

"I'm sorry," I apologized, still grinning. "I promise I'll help you study on Thursday, all right?"

"I'm gonna hold you to that Princess." He pointed at me, nearly dropping Mrs, Hertz, who was still somehow unconscious. I covered my mouth and bit my lip as he hastily grabbed her again while bragging about his 'amazingly manly muscles' to Ulrich. Shaking my head, the corners of my lips tugged upwards, and the current high school drama was temporarily forgotten as I watched Odd and his antics. He's just so . . . cute. I stopped. Wait, what?

"Aelita, could you help me with this? It'd be nice to finish this early this time, huh?" Jeremie inquired, as he paused his typing again, while sounding kind of excited.

I took a deep breath, then let it out. "Sure Jeremie." It's important, Aelita. Come on, you can remember that.

"Right, let's hurry up before she flips out on us." Ulrich led Odd to the elevator, carefully supporting Mrs. Hertz as he elbowed the up button.

I waved as the elevator doors closed. "We're off!" announced Odd. The doors closed and took them up.

Wordlessly, I turned back to the computer.

**A/N This was written out of order btw. I did chapters 1-5 in order all that time ago, then 6, then half of 7, then 8, than 10 and finally 9 and the second half of 7. So if the style seems a tad odd, there's why. My writing has changed a bit in the past years. I'm doing my best to stay true to what I originally intended to write :**


	10. Chapter 9 Outrunning

**Chapter 9:**

**Aelita's P.O.V.**

_"Come on Mr. Puck, let's find the safe place. Behind the oak grove . . ." _

_Heavy thuds left such shallow footsteps in the dirt. The sun broke through the thick canopy of leaves, leaving streaks of light in the forest. Soon, the red trail crossroads came in sight. The way to go? Straight, then left, always left._

_"Not much further, come on! They'll be waiting." The milky brown eyes of the doll never lost sight of the destination. Blooming flowers were narrowly avoided being trampled on in the hurry. Not much further._

_Howls. _

_Stop. _

_The leaves shuddered and dark figures exited. Sharp canines protruded from the wolves' mouths, salvia loosely hanging. Growls bubbled up in their throats. Suddenly there were two more emerging from the bushes, five in total. Each hunched forward with fur rising on end._

_Then, a shriek. Deeper footsteps, a shroud of clouds, no crossroads in sight. Mr. Puck bounced along, just as desperate to reach the safe place. The largest tree in the forest came into sight, the hollow oak. Yes, there had to room, away from these beasts! _

_Another scream; fangs came dangerously close to skin. But that only came as a small shock compared to what was ahead. There was no time to skid to a stop. Everything happened so fast. "Daddy?"_

_"Aelita." He didn't shout, but there was panic in his eyes behind the darkly tinted glasses. He was in the spot, in the safe place, but everything was wrong. _

_"Daddy - no!" Hands outstretched, begging. _

_"Aelita!"_

_The wolves were forgotten. The safe place began to contort. _

_"DADDY!" _

_He was swallowed whole by the tree._

* * *

><p>I felt my damp, cold pillow against my cheek before I dared to open my eyes. It took a few minutes for my breathing to return to normal and I could look around. It wasn't even bright out yet. Reaching a hand up, I scrubbed furiously at my eyes. My other arm stretched down; Mr. Puck had fallen to the ground sometime in the night. I cuddled him close to my chest. <em>Daddy . . .<em> I bit my tongue hard. He was still out there. I hadn't heard his voice again, and it worried me. I sat up to check my computer. No messages from him, nothing. Just the decoding I'd started, to trace his last message. Jeremie and I had thought to check in the digital sea, but it was like finding a needle in a haystack.

A sickening pit formed in my stomach. Maybe I'd imagined his voice after all. Still, no one knew about it. Knew that I was so desperate to hear his voice that I was going crazy . . . I closed my eyes._ We'll find you Daddy_, I repeated my promise every morning.

My computer read 05:57 as the time. No angry Sissi at my door, thankfully. I'd taken to sleeping on my stomach, face buried in my pillow to block my screams. Yumi had told me not to do that, it caused wrinkles. "Even on people as young as us," she explained and shuddered.

Yumi. She'd be leaving in two days now. And still no sign of her or Ulrich forsaking their pride to make up. I made my way to my mirror. Wrinkles, no doubt. We all stressed too much. I sighed. No point in sleeping now. Gently, I placed Mr. Puck on my dresser. I attempted to comb down my hair, but gave up quickly and instead gathered my things for an early shower.

"Xana's been quiet lately," Jeremie stated grimly. He downed his glass of water and peeled back a banana, thankfully choosing to eat breakfast today.

"Good, he's giving me a chance to study," Ulrich muttered, but his comment went undetected by Jeremie. When he pulled out his laptop, I snuck a glance at Odd. He was cheerfully poking holes in his toast to make a smiley face. Ulrich glared at him, so I couldn't help but think he was kept up all night with Galactic Invader again.

"With all the recent scans Aelita and I have been doing to track his movement, it's impossible to think he'd just let that slide."

"You think he's planning a counterattack?" I questioned.

Jeremie nodded confidently. "I wouldn't be the slightest bit surprised."

"Maybe he's followed in Yumi's footsteps and planned a vacation," Odd suggested cheekily. At the mention of Yumi, Ulrich sunk even lower in his chair, if that was possible.

"Haha, very funny. It just so happens that our friend Xana has been trying to destroy the sectors on Lyoko. Need I remind you of what will happen when they're all gone? He wins hands down," insisted Jeremie.

"Aw, chill out Einstein, as long as the Scyphozoa stays away from Aelita, we'll be fine," Odd replied. He gave me a quick smile, which I returned, but then I began to think. It was nice that he had enough faith in me, but secretly I was worried, and Jeremie made no effort to hide that he was, too. I'd already gotten rid of one sector, it could happen again. It would be a good idea to get some more training in. It can't hurt, right? _Now, who to ask . . . _

I felt blush rising to my cheeks at the idea off Odd and I training alone together, probably ending up in a tangled mess on the ground like we often did. I bit my lip. No, maybe not the best idea. Besides, he still wants to skate with me this weekend. He might get tired of seeing me so often. Ulrich was really the best choice, he and Yumi were the best trained fighters.

A bulb went off. I smiled discreetly. If I could get the two alone together, even just for a few minutes. They can't ignore one another forever. I really do need the training, and they won't fight, not in front of me. This has to stop before Yumi leaves.

I finished breakfast when I decided to ask them both to meet me near the Hermitage after class.

* * *

><p>"So what brought on this sudden interest to train?" Ulrich inquired as we shuffled across campus.<p>

I shrugged. "Something Odd said this morning at breakfast. And Jeremie."

"Oh yeah, what about?"

I raised an eyebrow. "You were there," I reminded him.

"Yeah, well, you know Jeremie and Odd. Talk, talk, talk. Where did you wanna go exactly?"

"To answer your first question, I don't want to risk getting caught by the Scyphozoa. There's already to much at stake with my father, and now tracking Xana in the Internet. A program to materialize us in Sector 5 will take even longer," I explained. Ulrich nodded, not pressing further. "And I want to go to the woods."

Ulrich stopped me. "Wait, don't you think the gymnasium would be a better idea?"

My response died on my lips. Really, in theory, it was a much better idea, but it just didn't occur to me. In that moment, I was reminded of my nightmare, and the drop in my stomach returned. "Ok, gym it is."

We took no more than two steps when we heard, "Yoo hoo Ulrich!" Sissi waved frantically from her spot in front of the gymnasium doors. "A little birdie told me there'd be Pencak Silat practice after class. Cool, huh?" Nicolas grinned at me broadly while Herve did what he always did, glared and growled at Ulrich.

"On second thought, the woods sound fine."

"Ok, but uh, I need to go to the bathroom first," I said hastily.

Ulrich cringed and turned his back to Sissi. "Please hurry."

When I was alone in the hallway, I called Yumi. "You ready to train?" I asked her brightly.

_"Yeah, I'll be there soon. I just have to sneak past Hiroki. Little brat faked being sick today."_

I laughed. "All right, just let me know when you're close." I stalled for a minute, playing out going to the bathroom. Not long enough to leave Ulrich at the mercy of Sissi. _Let's hope this works out. _

Back outside, Ulrich was facing Sissi again. "You'd rather go off and train with this pink haired freak than me?"

Ulrich tightened his fists, "First of all, it's Aelita, and second, I think I'm above a beginner's class don't you?"

"Oh I get it, you're gonna sneak off with that string bean aren't you? As a matter a fact, where is Yumi, has she left your side finally?" sneered Sissi.

Ulrich gritted his teeth, his reply cut off by the ringing of my phone.

"Hello?"

_"Aelita, are you by the Hermitage?"_

"We - I'll be there in just a minute, sorry."

_"Well someone decided to be a pest and follow me here."_

"Who, William? Or Hiroki?" I spoke without thinking. Oh crap. "I mean -"

_"It's Hiroki. I don't care if he watches us train, but what if there's an attack?"_

I sighed. "Best to take him home. We can train another day."

"No, I'll take him home and you and I can meet. Not gonna call this off for him. Wait for me."

I nodded and hung up, avoiding Ulrich's cool stare. "You invited Yumi?"

"I told you!" Sissi crowed. "But I guess she had another date."

"Elizabeth Delmas!" Jim called. "If you're not in here before I close this door, you'll be watching from the window missy!" Sissi glowered, but followed him inside. "Stern! Stones! Are you gonna just stand there or what? Come inside and sweat up a storm!"

"No," Ulrich snapped.

"Ulrich -" I began.

"I'm not gonna be there if Yumi shows up," he stated firmly.

"We'll just be going Jim," I called, then said, "Ulrich you really should apologize. And her, both of you work this out."

He chuckled humorlessly. "Oh, great, I'm guessing she told you everything right?"

I pursed my lips. This whole time I was under the assumption that he'd told Odd himself, but it looked like he hadn't said a word. "I only meant -" I began again.

"Alright, you know what? Forget it! You don't understand anything about what happened, so just stay out of it!" My plan had backfired, badly, but that's not what upset me. _Jeremie and Odd and me, then Ulrich and Yumi, please not me and Ulrich . . ._ He slumped his shoulders, but turned his back on me. "Sorry Aelita. It's not your fault." He shuffled away before I could say anything.

I didn't give myself the opportunity to get upset, but I ran. Fast and far. Wind shook the leaves loose from their branches. They fell before my feet before I raced over them, a couple caught in my hair. It wasn't until I arrived at the Hermitage gates that I came to a halt.

Yumi was waiting, her arms crossed as Hiroki sat on top of the fence and waved his arms frantically. After she shouted at him, "For the fifth and final time Hiroki get down before you break something!", she gave me a questioning glance. "Are you alright?"

I nodded slightly. "Yeah, I'm fine. Um . . ." I trailed off uncertainly when I caught Hiroki watching me with curious eyes and a pink face. "Hi there," I settled on.

"Hello," he said shyly. He swung his legs absently and instead watched the squirrels scuttling past. We never really met before, have we? In my brief time staying with Yumi's family last year, Hiroki had been with their grandparents attending a different school. I was the only friend of hers he was unfamiliar with.

"Sorry." Yumi gestured to her brother. "I'd tell him to go back home or at least to the Academy if he actually knew the way back."

"I can find my way out of here!" insisted Hiroki. He leaned back against his arms. "It's just more fun to watch you sis."

Yumi rolled her eyes. "Whatever. Let's stretch first, then I know what we can start with."

Ten minutes later, I was down on the ground for the fourth time, eating dirt. "That was better, you reacted much quicker," Yumi informed me.

"You call _this_ much better?" I asked incredulously, looking at my dirt stained legs and skirt. I stood and dusted my knees, while Yumi laughed good naturedly.

"Actually yes. The words weren't even halfway out and you responded the first time just in time. Just keep your stance a little more centered."

Uncertainly, I turned my body to the right and lifted my fists. "Like this?"

Yumi straightened her back, and gestured to her stomach. "Keep all of your tension in your gut, not in your chest and shoulders." I mirrored her position, causing her to grin broadly. "And try to look more menacing huh?"

"So what, pretend I'm bulging with muscles?" I teased.

Yumi disagreed. "No, we don't need that, trust me." She shut her eyes, took a deep breath, and composed herself. When she opened her eyes again, a fierce look of determination took its place as she raised her fists. But there was something else. Among the aggressive demeanor, there was a strange blankness, as if she could see into the mind of her opponent. In that moment, she truly looked terrifying._ I wonder what she must think to keep an expression like that._ I swallowed. _Maybe Ulrich . . ._

I chewed on my tongue. What would make me angry enough to appear like her? The answer came immediately._ Xana. He took my father first, he took my life which led to his sacrifice, and now he's hurting us all physically._ I tightened my grip. "Let's go."

"Left!"

"Left!"

"Right!"

Dodge. Deflect.

"Right!"

"Left!"

"Right!"

"Ow!" I lost my balance, and Yumi clipped my shoulder. "You said right," I protested.

"Well Xa-" she glanced over her shoulder. Hiroki, who'd stifled his laughter in the beginning, had been watching curiously for the past few minutes. "The enemy's not gonna tell you which way they're going are they? They can easily trick you, you have to see several steps ahead of them."

I nodded. "Jeremie says that about chess."

"A slightly more violent chess, yes." Yumi flipped her hair out of her eye. "Again."

"Left!"

"Right!"

"Left - ah!" I'd successfully blocked her hit to the right, but was unprepared for her to sweep my legs out from under me. I landed roughly once more. "Sorry 'Lita," Yumi said sheepishly. "You're doing better though, trust me."

She offered her hand, which I accepted. "You really think so?"

"I do." Her voice lowered. "But you know we could do this on Lyoko. Use our abilities and all."

"There's always attacks on Earth, too," I reasoned. "But that's a good idea. Less bruises."

"You got that right," she chuckled.

"You're getting bruises?" I shook my head. "I don't want to imagine what I must look like."

"Ok, ok, you got me," she admitted. "But if there's one thing you're good at, it's running." I smiled at the compliment, but was distracted at how much I was sweating and craving water. It suddenly seemed unbearably hot out. I rolled my sleeves up and touched my forehead. I checked earlier, it was only 21 degrees out **(A/N 70 degrees F for all my fellow Americans). **

Hiroki caught my attention when he pointed behind us. "What's that guy doing?"

"Hiroki don't point at -" Yumi stopped when got a glimpse of the figure. Tall, dark hair, wearing summer attire, and with two cigarettes. One between his lips, the other in his hand. He ground it into the wood of the Hermitage's fence. I frowned. "Hey!" she shouted. The man lazily turned. "What do you think you're doing? This is a residence, you have no right to - " she was cut off again, this time by her own gasp.

Xana's symbol reflected in his eyes. Training was forgotten. I backed away. Behind me, I heard the thud of Hiroki slipping off the fence. Yumi tensed up, prepared for his strike. Instead, he took one more drag and strode a few paces away. Then he tossed his cigarette into the forest. The burning forest. "No!" I cried. The specter leapt several meters in the air, over the trees, and away from us. Confusion enveloped me, only to be replaced by panic.

"Come on Aelita!" shouted Yumi.

"He's going to burn the Hermitage!" I could feel hysteria building. "Everything inside -" Yumi grabbed me by the shoulders. "There's no time, we have to get out of here!" she ordered. We began to run, until she stopped abruptly. "Where's Hiroki?"

_Oh my God._ "He, he must still be back there," I heard myself say weakly.

Yumi nearly crumbled. "No. No he couldn't be. He saw him, he would've run!"

I could only watch. The logical side of me, and her, knew that the best thing to do was get to Lyoko because there must be a tower activated. _But a child left alone in the burning woods . . . _

The specter swung down from the branches. Clutched under one arm as if he was nothing more than a rag doll was a flailing Hiroki. "Let him go Xana!" screamed Yumi.

"What's going on? Who is this guy?" Hiroki had tears streaming down his face. He desperatly clawed at the arm around his neck. The specter scanned the two of us, before his gaze settled on me. A blink later and Hiroki was thrown from his grasp and he charged at me. Yumi was at her brother's side, but I heard her yell my name. I shrieked and ducked left to avoid his placed punch to the right. The specter was taken back, not expecting me to put up a fight. I took advantage of his doubt and copied Yumi's side sweep, catching his legs. However, he didn't fall, but tripped. I scurried up and darted away.

"Hiroki, listen to me, you need to run home you hear?" Yumi was ordering him.

He was shaking. "I can't! I can't, I don't know how -"

"Follow the red trail crossroads and keep going straight until you get to Kadic," Yumi hastily instructed. Electricity flew from the specter's fingertips. The three of us threw ourselves out the way. The bark of the tree was singed badly. And the fire was spreading even faster.

"Hurry Hiroki, go on!"

"But I can't leave you here, this guy's just like Doctor Shrank!" He trembled, but his stubbornness rivaled that of his sister's.

"It's me he's after, I need to lead him away!"

"But - "

"Go!" Another stream of electricity burned a deep hole where we had just been standing. That sent Hiroki down the path, with the specter watching him. In that moment, I saw Yumi's shift from an annoyed turned panicked teenager to the protective older sister. That cold, aggressive expression returned. "Aelita get to the factory. I'll take care of him."

The specter narrowed it's Xanafied eyes at her.

It wasn't fair. This is was why I wanted to fight. But I was always being forced to run away._ But you're needed on Lyoko. You need to go._ "Ok, be careful," was all I managed to say. _Please. _

It was too dangerous to go back to the Hermitage and use the entrance there, so I instead dashed to the one on campus. I wiped at the tears that leaked their way out. _I left Yumi alone. And Hiroki. The fire will surely kill people, and a return trip can't save them!_ Screams filled the air. Screams of students. My heart pounded as I coughed on the smoke. I lifted the lid, just for it to slip out of my hands. The specter was back. My phone began to ring, but I was already hanging from the first rung.

Yumi reappeared in time, knocking the specter to the ground. I watched in horror as she led him away, further and further into the flames. When they licked the grass mere inches away from my head, I let go of the ladder and dropped down. My legs were aching from the drop, which ignored to pull out my phone. "Jeremie? I know, I'm on my way. We need to get to Lyoko!" I grasped my scooter, nearly knocking over a certain skateboard in the process. "Yumi's in danger!"

* * *

><p><strong>If there's any continuity errors, I apologize, that's what the rewrite is fo<strong>**r. Which, honestly, I wouldn't do if I could go back and edit my old chapters, but I can't. The next one will be the last one of BFUTE, then Broken Past, Shifting Future will come out with those 10 edited to affect the slightly altered plot. The style of writing will be more consistent, too. This is a mix of a 13/14-year-old's work vs now. When exactly the rewritten chapters will be ready, I can't say, but I'm pushing myself to get it done. Thanks for reading friends :)**


	11. Chapter 10 No One is Safe

**Dicknuts, so sorry for this being late guys. It was 75% written, and I've just been sitting on it. But 10 chapters, wheeeew! **

**Chapter 10**

**Aelita's P.O.V.**

"Where could she be?" Jeremie's voice echoed down in the scanner room.

"Beats me, she was at the school when Odd called." Ulrich tried to sound nonchalant. He wasn't fooling me, not when one of us was in danger. As he sat against the wall with his arms crossed over his knees, the grim look on his face gave it away.

Odd had propped himself in the lid of the tunnel that led below, kicking his legs aimlessly as I paced back and forth.

"Never mind, we need to get the tower deactivated. I'm sending you in." Despite the worry, Jeremie's orders were still strict.

Ulrich and Odd stepped into the scanners. I hesitated. They didn't know that I was still filled with guilt. _This is my fault, isn't it? I can't believe I lost Yumi. Is she still ok?_ "Jeremie can you call her one more time? Yumi may still be in danger."

"I'll send you in first, then I promise I'll call. The fire's probably spreading towards here or the Academy."

"This is awful." I shook my head.

"Just make sure to call, ok Einstein?" For a moment, Ulrich must have forgotten he was mad.

"I will."

Just as I reached the last scanner, my phone rang. "Wait!" I was Yumi. "Hello?"

_"Aelita!"_

"Yumi! What's going on?"

I could hear her panting as she ran. Something was chasing her. The specter? _"Are you at the factory?"_

"Yes, where are you?"

_"Outside, the fire is - "_

The line went dead.

I froze. "Yumi? . . . Yumi!"

"It's ok, I see her on the screen. Camera 2. She's inside, go on!" Jeremie ordered.

"Come on Aelita," Odd said softly.

I hurried into the scanner.

"Transfer Aelita." The doors shut.

"Transfer Ulrich." I closed my eyes.

"Transfer Odd." Warm air filled the scanner, blowing my hood and skirt up slightly.

"Scanner Aelita." I rotated upwards.

"Scanner Ulrich." My digital code was scanned.

"Scanner Odd." It stopped.

"Virtualization!" My hair blew out of my face when the final rush of air came. Then I disappeared from the scanner.

I reappeared and landed in the ice sector. Ulrich and Odd dropped down beside me. No sooner than we we arrived on Lyoko, I could sense danger.

Jeremie advised, _"Be careful. The tower is due east. Not too far from where you are."_

"But you never know," Ulrich clarified.

_"Exactly. Better hurry up."_

"I see it over there." Pointing to it, I didn't see the megatanks rolling in behind me.

Ulrich reacted in time. "Aelita, watch out!" When I turned, I saw him flattening himself to avoid the megatanks laser. I mirrored his position.

"Wow, you sure Xana won't get lonely?" Odd asked, flipping left and right as the monsters tried to hit him.

_"What do you mean?"_ Jeremie seemed confused.

Odd climbed up against an iceberg jutting out of the ground. "He sent all of his friends out to play!"

Then he leapt into the air, shouting, "Missed me!"

I could sense Jeremie's frustration from here. _"Odd this is no time for games! Yumi's still in very big - oh, Yumi!"_

Ulrich looked up at the sky. "Yumi?"

"I'm here, better hurry – " she was out of breath " - I lost the specter, but I don't know for how long."

Jeremie began to type. _"Hold on, I'm transferring Yumi to help you."_

"Well step on it Einstein!" Ulrich shouted, using his supersprint. "How're you doing Odd?!"

"Just fine, except for one thing!" He shot. "I'm gonna run out of arrows if this damn thing doesn't just stand still! Laser arrow!"

I began to run for the tower. Every time it seemed closer and closer, Xana wouldn't give up; another megatank appeared in front of me. I stopped, barley managing to gasp. It charged up its laser and released. Screaming, I threw myself to the ground.

It never hit me. In a less than few seconds, Ulrich had raced over. He yanked out his katana and attempted to hold it off by pressing it into the laser. Sparks began to fly on his weapon. I breathed a sigh of relief. "Thanks Ulrich." Quickly, I moved out of the way.

He grunted as he strained. _"Ulrich, you're losing too many life points!"_ Jeremie panicked.

"Tell. Me. About. It." He pressed harder, skidding against the ground.

"Aelita, get to the tower fast!" Jeremie shouted.

I almost did. But I couldn't stand to just see Ulrich struggling. In my hands, I formed energy field after energy field and threw them. Three did the trick, and shattered the megatank's laser like glass on impact. Ulrich turned to me. "Thanks yourself." He smiled briefly. "Supersprint!"

I took off running again and Yumi materialized near me. Relieved to see that she was ok, I asked, "Is Hiroki all right?"

She grinned slightly. "He's fine. He runs faster than I knew. But hurry, the fire's spreading."

"Uh huh." I forced myself to run faster. Behind me, Yumi pushed herself off the ground, and flipped over a megatank. She yanked out her fans and threw, destroying one monster. "Jeremie, how about our vehicles?"

_"Coming up."_

In only a minute, my friends rode ahead of me with the megatanks in hot pursut. Immediately, I was annoyed. How am I going to get through now? Xana's monsters were blocking the tower, and there were four of them. It was a lot for an everyday attack. Xana's been getting stronger still. Didn't those programs work?

"Energy field!" I aimed at the closest megatank, but it closed it shell, blocking my attack. Rapidly, it opened again, getting ready to fire.

"Step aside Aelita!" Odd flew in on his Overboard. "Yahoo!" I just barely ducked as he sailed on my by above me. The megatank fired. Odd dodged, and I found myself grinning. Then it hit me. Something that I should've realized earlier.

The lasers weren't green.

_Are the programs working? Jeremie would be so thrilled. All the time we spent working was paying off. Xana may have sent many monsters, yet this was sign that he was weakening!_

However, the happy moment was short-lived. Odd took a chance, ramming his overboard into the megatank. In that split second, it dawned on me that everyone was still in danger. The collision destroyed the megatank and sent Odd flying over the edge.

"Odd!" I screamed, watching helplessly.

"Aelitaaaa!"

Without a second thought, I dropped to my knees, concentrating with all my might. It can't happen! No Odd, not you! He can't die! A virtual platform took shape below, as I attempted to use my Creativity. Even on Lyoko, I could still feel a throbbing in my head as my hands shook. Seconds passed. Odd's screaming ceased.

My heart stopped. _Did he -_ I took a deep breath and glanced down to the digital sea. There he was, sprawled out awkwardly on the platform. Safe. I dropped to me knees again, drained.

"Thanks Aelita."

I lifted my head, and smiled.

Odd paused. "Look out!" Another megatank rolled behind me, and another make-shift shield was made, this time be me with two energy fields. I'd done it more than Ulrich, and was able to hold my own for longer. But it was still hard, and the sparks still flew between my shield and the laser. I skid further, closer to the edge as well.

_"Aelita, you're down 20 more life points! Get out of there!" _exclaimed Jeremie.

I had to jump to the side, nearly losing my balance in the process. This gave Odd a chance to get a good shot. "Gotcha . . . laser arrow!"

The impact nearly knocked me off my feet again. _He can still be a sharp-shooter even from down there? _A proud grin crossed my face before I began to run again.

Nearby, Ulrich was using his triangulate against another megatank. _We'll get through this after all. We will, we will - _The tower couldn't be more than two minutes away if nothing stopped me. "Jeremie, is there any sign of the specter?"

_"No not yet. But don't worry you're almost - no!"_

Yumi was in the air. She stopped where my she is. "Jeremie, what's wrong?"

_"Th-the specter's here!"_

"What?" She and I exclaimed. There were two megatanks left. Yumi jumped off her vehicle, threw her fan, and missed. She caught it in one hand just before doing a round-off to avoid getting shot.

It rolled in front of the tower, along with the last one. "We'll never make it!" Yumi yelled, echoing thoughts as my optimism faded. "If only - whoa!" We both dodged two lasers. Her Overwing was destroyed.

"Yumi, devirtualize me, hurry!" Odd said from below. I turned my head.

"You sure?" she asked, a hint of doubt lingering in her voice.

He nodded, looking serious. "Jeremie's in trouble."

She nodded back in return. "Ok." I was touched. Here I was thinking that Jeremie and Odd wouldn't stop fighting, and now I could see that their friendship still existed.

And because of how sweet it was, I couldn't watch as Yumi's fans cut through Odd, sending him back to Earth. I did however, use the chance to destroy one megatank with my creativity as I made the ground beneath it vanish.

Meanwhile, Ulrich halted his sprint and threw his katana with specific aim. It flung threw the air fluidly, and hit the Eye of Xana. When the megatank exploded, the force sent his weapon flying back, and he promptly caught it.

Now was my chance! The tower couldn't be farther than 5 meters and I thought I was going to make it. A familiar noise sounded behind me as a pair of clear tentacles took hold.

The Scyphozoa was here.

* * *

><p><strong>Arrrghh so short ;pppppp But I tried writing more and it just came out terribly. I think you guys would rather this than wait ages or getting a shit chapter. Hope you enjoy. Re-write still in progress, getting as much done as I can. Loves y'alls.<strong>


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